Brian Wilson Aldiss, eighteenth Grand Master of the Science Fiction Writers of America, was born in Norfolk in 1925. He is --together with Arthur C. Clarke- the only British SF writer to receive this singular honour.
Decade -- The 1950s
In 1955 Aldiss won The Observer newspaper's competition with his short story "Not For An Age." Two years later publishers Faber and Faber issued his first book, the short-story collection Space, Time and Nathaniel. The 1959 World Science Fiction Convention voted him the Hugo Award as Most Promising New Author, after the publication of his debut novel Non-Stop (US title: Starship) the previous year.
Decade -- The 1960s
Aldiss won the Hugo Award in 1962 for his fix-up novel Hothouse, the only time the award has been presented for 'Best Short Story Collection.' For a few years Aldiss was arguably --with Fritz Leiber-- one of the most influential writers in the world: Roger Zelazny cited his novelette 'A Kind of Artistry' as a seminal influence.
In The Dark Light Years humanity refuses to recognize the sentience of filth-wallowing but gentle aliens. Then came Earthworks, perhaps the first eco-novel. Crytozoic, in which humanity learns that time flows backwards, the 'anti-novel' Report on Probability A, all culminating in Barefoot in the Head, a hugely experimental work playing with language in the aftermath of a psychotropic bombed-out Europe.
Meanwhile, Aldiss also won the first Nebula Award for his novella 'The Saliva Tree,' a tribute to HG Wells in the centenary of his birth, was a contender with 'Man in His Time' the following year for the novelette category, as well as 'Total Environment' two years later in the same category.
Decade -- The 1970s
It was to be four years before Aldiss wrote another SF novel, concentrating instead on the first two novels in the autobiographical 'Horatio Stubbs' trilogy. He returned in 1973 with Frankenstein Unbound, in which a time-travelling scientist meets Mary Shelley and the real Frankenstein.
The decade marked a period of experimental writing of erratic quality. The following year's The Eighty Minute Hour was an almost indigestible mish-mash of concepts that never stacked up, whereas The Malacia Tapestry could be considered his finest novel, while Brothers of the Head and Enemies of the System both received mixed reviews.
Seasons In Flight
Much of Aldiss' output in the 1980s and 90s comprised The Squire Quartet a mainstream effort, and The Helliconia Trilogy, perhaps Aldiss' last major SF novels. Since the Millenium he has returned to single novels such as Jocasta and HARM.
In addition, Aldiss is still writing short stories and issuing collections such as Seasons in Flight (1984) and Super-Toys Last All Summer Long and Other Stories of Future Time (2001) the title story of which formed the basis for the Kubrick/ Spielberg film AI.
Anthologies
Aldiss has also been a singularly successful anthologist. For Faber he edited Introducing SF, and Best Fantasy Stories. In 1961 he edited an anthology of reprinted American SF stories under the title Penguin Science Fiction. It was frequently reprinted, and spawned sequels, More Penguin Science Fiction (1963), and Yet More Penguin Science Fiction (1964). All three were eventually published as The Penguin Science Fiction Omnibus (1973), which was also frequently reprinted. In 1967 he co-edited Nebula Award Stories 2 with Harry Harrison, and continuing the partnership from 1968 to 1976 with The Year's Best Science Fiction. During the 1970s, he produced several colossal omnibuses of 'Golden-Age' SF, notably Space Opera (1974), Space Odysseys (1975), Galactic Empires (1976), Evil Earths (1976), and Perilous Planets (1978).
As well as being made Grand Master by SFWA, Aldiss was awarded the title of Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to literature by HM Queen Elizabeth II in 2005.
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