Franz Kafka

Biography

Franz Kafka (1883–1924) was a German-language novelist and short story writer from Prague, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in twentieth-century literature. His surreal, nightmarish fiction explores themes of alienation, bureaucratic absurdity, guilt, and the impossibility of communication. Major works include The Trial, The Castle, and The Metamorphosis. Kafka published little during his lifetime and instructed his friend Max Brod to burn his manuscripts after his death—an instruction Brod famously ignored, preserving some of the most influential literature of the modern era. The word "Kafkaesque" has entered common usage to describe absurdly complex and frustrating situations.