Max Frisch was born in Switzerland in 1911. He attended the University of Zurich and spent six years in the Swiss Army. He also worked as a freelance writer and an architect. Frisch is most famous for writing the novel I'm Not Stiller and the play The Firebugs. Both works explore one of Frisch's major themes: the problematic nature of living life without a true understanding of one's identity. Many of his works feature explore this theme, including the plays The Chinese Wall, Andorra: A Play in Twelve Scenes, and Don Juan; or the Love of Geometry. He has also written several other novels, including Homo Faber: A Report, and Man in the Holocene. Frisch was awarded the International Neustadt… Prize for Literature in 1987. He died in 1991 in Zurich.
Michael Bullock, himself a novelist and poet, was for many years the official translator of Max Frisch. His translations of books and plays from French and German now number close to 200 and have received many awards.