Julian Barnes is the author of two books of stories, two collections of essays, a translation of Alphonse Daudet's In the Land of Pain, and nine previous novels. In France he is the only writer to have won both the Prix Médicis and the Prix Fémina, and in 2004 he became a Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. In England his honors include the Somerset Maugham Award and the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize. He has also received the E. M. Forster Award from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. He lives in London.