Samuel Beckett
Samuel Beckett (1906-89), Irish novelist and dramatist. He lived in France from 1932 onwards and wrote most of his works in French, producing his own English translations. He is best known for his plays, such as Waiting for Godot (1954) and Endgame (1957), both of which illustrate the pointlessness of life and the failure of human communication. His novels include the important trilogy Molloy (1951), Malone Dies (1951), and The Unnamable (1953). Latterly he concentrated on short experimental works. He received the Nobel Prize for literature in 1969.
