"Anthony Burgess is an extremely prolific writer with over 50 books to his credit." (Clune) John Anthony Burgess Wilson was born on February 25, 1917 in Harpurhey, Manchester, England and died on November 22. 1993 (76 years old). "St John's Wood, London, England Burgess began writing stories at the age of 42. But it wasn't until he was told he had a brain tumor and had nothing left only a year to live that he began to write seriously and quickly, finishing five novels and revising a sixth so that his wife would have an income after his death. (Clune) Thirty years later, he published his 30th novel, Any Old Iron, and a collection of short stories, The Devil's Mode. (Clune) "In addition to novels and short stories, he produced autobiographies, reviews, books on language, verses, translations, children's stories, screenplays and a huge amount of journalism." (Clune) "He tries to keep the routine of writing a thousand words a day, every day, considers the writing as a “profession like everything else, not a precious rite”. (Clune) The key to much of his writing lies in his background. Burgess says growing up as a part-Irish Catholic in Manchester gave him a constant feeling of being different, perhaps even out of place. "but I was Catholic and in the North West we were a special case" and "I'm much more Irish than English. Sometimes I even convince people I'm Irish." (Clune) “His childhood dream was to become a composer, and when he entered Manchester University, he wanted to study music. However, without the scientific training required by the music department, he had to take courses in English language and literature. instead his personal tutor, whom he admired, was Dr LC Knights, author of Drama and Society in the Age o...... middle of paper ...... Burgess was so often asked . on his productivity that he eventually developed an apologia based on his energy, hard work, and pure love of writing." (Ingersoll) "Burgess also reminded his audience that unlike many writers, notably in the United States -United, he supported himself entirely by his own writings and not as generously as some did. In the foreword to Jeutonne Brewer's bibliography of his work, Burgess expresses his astonishment at having produced so many books and his anger that it took so much writing to support himself. (Ingersoll) In other words, Burgess stamped his own personality on history, reveled in a haughty rhetorical style, casually revealed the past, and equally casually captured the anguish and humor of the human condition. linguistic writers of this century”.)