Michael Arlen

Biography

Michael Arlen (1895–1956), born Dikran Kouyoumdjian, was an Armenian-British novelist and short story writer who became one of the most fashionable literary figures of the 1920s. Born in Roustchouk, Bulgaria (now Ruse), to Armenian parents, he was raised in England from age five and educated at Malvern College and the University of Edinburgh. He adopted the pen name Michael Arlen and began publishing stories that captured the glamorous, decadent world of London’s social elite in the Jazz Age. His sensational bestseller The Green Hat (1924) made him an international celebrity—the novel’s depiction of a beautiful, mysterious woman living defiantly outside social conventions captivated readers and was adapted into a hit play starring Tallulah Bankhead and a film starring Greta Garbo (retitled A Woman of Affairs). Arlen’s witty, polished prose and his portrayal of fashionable London society earned comparisons to Oscar Wilde and Noel Coward. However, his literary reputation faded quickly as the 1920s ended and his particular brand of sophisticated glamour fell out of fashion. He spent his later years in the south of France and New York.