Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka, (1883-1924). Austrian-Jewish novelist and short-story writer. A native of Prague, he worked as an insurance clerk while writing in his spare time. His novels, which reflect the torment and conflict of his personal life, include Metamorphosis (written 1915) and The Trial (written 1914). In 1917 he suffered a haemorrhage, marking the onset of the tuberculosis from which he died. His will asked that his works, so far unpublished, should be burnt after his death. However, his literary executor, the poet Max Brod, ignored Kafka’s instructions and published them.
