Alan Sillitoe had no plans for becoming a writer; writing seemed a most unlikely, even "inconceivable" career for a factory worker raised in the industrial town of Nottingham, England. Despite, or perhaps because of, his working-class origins, Sillitoe became a writer whose first two works assured him of a place in English letters. The prize-winning author of poetry, plays, screenplays, short stories, and novels, Sillitoe has capitalized on his background in ways few writers equal. Though actual settings vary, Nottingham is never too far distant in his writing.

Uncertainty born of poverty characterized Sillitoe's earliest years in Nottingham. Born 4 March 1928, to Christopher and Sylvina Burton Sillitoe, Alan Sillitoe watched his father, an unskilled laborer, struggle with unemployment during the financially precarious 1930s. Lack of money sometimes meant government assistance in the form of hot meals for Sillitoe and his four siblings and caused frequent moves over rent disputes...