Comprehensive information and links about Alex Garland

Alex Garland (born 1970Alex Garland is a British novelist, the son of the well-known and respected political cartoonist, Nick Garland. With a resolutely middle-class and intellectual background, he attended University College School, Hampstead and later graduated from Manchester University with a degree in History of Art. He was planning on following in his father's footsteps before he realized: "There aren't many openings for a cartoonist." Instead, he turned his attention to fiction, and started writing when he was just 23, drawing on his many experiences of travelling. He first went to India when he was 17 on a school trip, and he now makes several visits to South East Asia per year.

was released in 1996. It is set in what at first seems to be a backpackers' paradise in Thailand, but ascends to a visceral for our times. The novel, which quickly became a cult classic, was boosted by the movie with Leonardo DiCaprio in the main role as Richard.

was released in 1998. The book intertwines the lives of Manila gangsters, housewives and streetchildren. The title, referring to the four-dimensional hypercube, signifies our inability to understand the world at any level higher than our own existence.

His latest book, , was released in 2004. It tells the story of man after he is brutally beaten in an attempt to protect a young woman from a gang of thugs. After awakening from his coma and being discharged from hospital the man proceeds to piece his life together, often wondering if he really has slipped out of the coma or is merely dreaming. It is illustrated with woodcuts by his father, Nicholas. Though the novel has attracted a measure of criticism for its short length, (at the price of a full-length novel) many have praised Garland's skilled treatment of this complex issue. Previous to writing , Garland was reputed to have suffered from a writer's block, although he disputes this, suggesting that he simply had other concerns.

Garland wrote the screenplay for Danny Boyle's 2003 movie