Rushdie was born on June 19, 1947 to a prosperous family in Bombay, India. Although his background was Muslim, Rushdie was not brought up as a believer. He was sent away when he was thirteen to a private education in England, where he was harassed by his peers, and Rushdie's family joined him in Kensington, London, between 1962 and 1964 before moving to Pakistan. Rushdie attended King's College, Cambridge, graduating in 1968 with a master's degree in history. After living briefly in Pakistan, Rushdie moved back to England and worked in advertising, publishing, and television.

Rushdie wrote one novel that was rejected and abandoned two others before publishing his first novel, Grimus (1975). This debut was unsuccessful, and Rushdie began to work for the Camden Committee for Community Relations assisting Bangladeshi immigrants. Midnight's Children, his second novel, was published in 1981 and won Britain's prestigious Booker Prize, launching Rushdie to fame in Britain...