Brian Aldiss, OBE, is a fiction and science fiction writer, poet, playwright, critic, memoirist and artist. He was born in Norfolk in 1925. After leaving the army, Aldiss worked as a bookseller, which provided the setting for his first book, THE BRIGHTFOUNT DIARIES (1955). His first published science fiction work was the story ‘Criminal Record’, which appeared in Science Fantasy in 1954. Since then he has written nearly 100 books and over 300 short stories.

'A funny and intelligent novel' DAILY TELEGRAPH 'Richly human novel' THE TIMES 'The scenes from barrack-room life have a Kipling-esque vigour and uproariousness' SUNDAY TIMES