An Indian-born novelist, poet, and travel writer, he is best known for his Alexandria Quartet, which includes the novels Justine (1957), Balthazar (1958), Mountolive (1958), and Clea (1960). Between 1931 and 1980, he also published nearly a dozen poetry collections, such as A Private Country (1943) and Cities, Plains and People (1946). He failed his entrance exams for university study but nevertheless published his first collection of poetry at age nineteen. His first novel, Pied Piper of Lovers, was published in 1935.
