Anthony Burgess: English writer and composer (1917–1993)

One of these was named A Clockwork Orange. It was about evil. He had the idea for the story after a group of bad young men raped and beat his wife for no reason.

Burgess also made songs and music. And he wrote a lot about writers he loved, such as James Joyce, a novelist, and Gerard Manley Hopkins, a poet.

Burgess was born in Harpurhey, Manchester, in the north of England. Before he became a writer, he was a soldier, then a teacher. When he was 37 years old, he left his home country to work in Malaysia and Brunei. Later, he lived in the USA, Italy, and France.

He was born very poor, the son of a man who made a meagre living out of selling cigarettes to workmen. But when Burgess died, he had grown rich. This was because he worked so hard at his art, which is the art of literature. He wrote at least 1,000 words every day of his life. But he always found time to be kind to other writers. He was friendly to the many people who came to visit with him at his seaside home in Monaco.

Burgess died of lung cancer aged 76, in St John's Wood, London.

The books by Burgess that people say they like the most are called Earthly Powers, about the Pope; Enderby, about a poet; and Nothing Like the Sun, about William Shakespeare.

• Anthony Burgess on IMDb

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