This German novelist was born in the city of Cammin, Vorpommern and studied at Rostock and Leipzig Universities. He formed part of the all important Group 47, perhaps the most important and influential literary-political association of post-war German literature.

Some of his repeated themes include the effect that the division of Germany had on the people on both sides, and his style changed as time went by, due to his concern and experiments regarding the language, points of view and time sequences. His vision is uncritical and he makes no moral judgments of his characters.

Some of his most important and well-known novels include Speculations about Jacob (1959), The Third Book on Achim (1962), Two Opinions (1965); his trilogy on modern German history, Anniversaries (1970-71-73) is also of particular interest. His first novel, Ingrid Bandererbe, was banned by the authorities, and was published much later in 1985.