Publication details of Pincher Martin:

Published in 1956

Other literary works include:

Lord of Flies (1954)
The inheritors (1955)
Free Fall (1959)

Born:

19th of September 1911, in Cornwall, UK

Early years:

His family was progressive, and it was the first source of influence for Golding's talent. From the first years of his life, he faced the atrocities of war.

Schooling:

Golding started writing at the age of 7, but following the wishes of his parents, he studied natural sciences and English at Marlborough Grammar School. In 1930 he left the grammar school and went to Brasenoe College, Oxford, to read science. After two years he changed to English, graduating in 1934 with 'good' second. In the same year, Macmillan published a volume of his verse. In 1935 Golding left Oxford with a degree and a teaching qualification.

Career:

In 1939 he took up a post at Maidstone Grammar school for boys, and later that year at Bishop Wordsworth School, Salisbury, to which he was to return after the war and work there until 1962. He went to the Royal Navy in 1940, and was a lieutenant in command of a rocket ship. After the war, he started to act as a writer. He also taught for some time in Greece in the 1960s.

Final years:

He always loved Greek literature and many of his books show clearly his Greek influence. His last book, The Double Tongue (1993) was a novel about ancient Greece. Unfortunately, this book had never been finished. He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1983 and he was knighted in 1988.

Died:

Golding died on 19th of June 1993, in Wilthshire, England of a sudden heart attack.