Alan Sillitoe, 1928-2010, was born in Nottingham, England, the son of a tannery laborer. He left school at 14 to work in a bicycle plant, and later joined the Royal Air Force. He served as a radio operator from 1946-1949 in Malaya, and, upon leaving the service, was found to have tuberculosis confining him to bed for many months. A blessing in disguise, Sillitoe received a small disability pension and so was able to pursue his dream of learning to write. His first novel, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, was proclaimed by some critics as the finest novel of 1958. The Loneliness of the Long–Distance Runner (contained in a short story collection of the same name) firmly established his literary reputation the following year. Both have been translated into numerous languages, made into films, and performed on stage and on television. Sillitoe wrote and published a number of other novels, in addition to magazine and newspaper articles, poetry and many short stories.