J. G. Ballard

James Graham Ballard (Shanghai, November 15, 1930 – London, April 19, 2009) was an English writer. He is the author of Empire of the Sun, which, although fictional, recounts Ballard's experiences in World War II. It tells the story of a British boy, Jim Graham (the same name as the author, James Graham), who lives with his parents in Shanghai. The book was made into a film in 1987, directed by Steven Spielberg.
Ballard studied medicine at Cambridge and worked as a concierge at Covent Garden before leaving for Canada. She published her first novel in 1961, "The Drowned World".