Flann O'Brien

Flann O'Brien is the pen name of Brian O'Nolan, an Irish civil servant, novelist and satirist who was born in Strabane, County Tyrone. Under that name he wrote the novels At Swim-Two-Birds, The Hard Life, The Dalkey Archive and The Third Policeman, books known for their unconventional humour and their experiments with form. He was influenced by James Joyce, though he was sceptical of the cult that grew around Joyce, and he is now regarded as a major figure in twentieth-century Irish literature.