Joseph Heller

Joseph Heller (1923 to 1999) was an American novelist born on Coney Island, in Brooklyn, New York. He served as a bombardier in the United States Army Air Forces during the Second World War, flying missions over Italy, an experience that shaped his best-known work. After the war he studied at university, worked in advertising and teaching, and wrote fiction in his spare time.

His first novel, Catch-22, appeared in 1961 and grew into a classic of American literature. Its dark comedy about the absurdity of war and bureaucracy gave the English language a lasting phrase. Heller went on to write several more novels, including Something Happened, Good as Gold and God Knows, which turn the same sharp, comic eye on office life, family, politics and the Bible. He also wrote a play and a memoir. He is remembered for satire that is funny, angry and humane.