Arthur Sellings
Arthur Sellings, born Arthur Gordon Ley in 1911 in Tumbridge Wells, Kent, England, was a multifaceted figure known for his contributions to the realms of science fiction and fantasy literature. In addition to his writing career, he worked as a civil servant and an industrial chemist, and he was deeply passionate about antiquarian books, particularly early utopian literature. Sellings began his writing journey in the early 1950s, utilizing the pseudonym Arthur Sellings, and his short stories were featured in notable publications such as Galaxy and New Worlds, as well as in several anthologies.
His body of work includes two short story collections, "Time Transfer, and Other Stories" (1956) and "The Long Eureka" (1968), along with several novels, including "Telepath" (1962) and "The Quy Effect" (1966). His narratives often blended elements of comedy, science fiction, and espionage, exploring complex themes such as telepathy and alternate dimensions. Despite a promising career, Sellings's life came to an untimely end in 1968, after which his widow helped publish his last novel, "Junk Day," posthumously in 1970. Through his diverse writings, Sellings left a notable mark on the science fiction genre, engaging readers with innovative ideas and genre-crossing narratives.
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Arthur Sellings
Writer
- Born: May 31, 1911 or 1921
- Birthplace: Tumbridge Wells, Kent, England
- Died: September 24, 1968
- Place of death: Worthing, Sussex, England
Biography
Arthur Sellings was born Arthur Gordon Ley on May 31, 1911 (some sources say 1921), in Tumbridge Wells, Kent, England. Though details of his life are scarce, Sellings apparently was at various times a civil servant, industrial chemist, and antiquarian bookseller; he was said to be a passionate collector of rare books, particularly early utopian works. From 1955 until 1968, he worked as a scientific researcher for the British government.
He began writing science-fiction and fantasy short stories, usually under the pseudonym Arthur Sellings, in the early 1950’s. His short fiction appeared often in such publications as Galaxy, Nebula, New Worlds, Fantastic Universe, Authentic, and Science- Fantasy and was frequently anthologized in collections like New Writings in Science Fiction (1966, 1968, and 1969), Gods for Tomorrow (1967), and More Tales of Unease (1969). He released a short-story collection, Time Transfer, and Other Stories, in 1956 and a second collection, The Long Eureka: A Collection of Short Stories, appeared in 1968.
Sellings’s first novel was Telepath (1962, also known as The Silent Speakers), the story of advertising man and would-be novelist Arnold Ash, who discovers at a cocktail party that he shares the powers of extra sensory perception when he experiences instant and total mental communication with an artist, Claire Bergen. An odd blend of comedy and spy story, with an underlying science-fiction element, the novel suggested that telepathy was potentially a learned skill, with potential for abuse by military powers.
Sellings continued his exploration of inner space with The Uncensored Man (1964), in which a scientist receives messages from a place called Elsewhere. On a psychiatrist’s couch and transferred to another dimension under the influence of LSD, he learns that Elsewhere really exists. Afterward considered a security risk, the scientist is given special powers and charged with the mission to clean up Earth.
The Quy Effect (1966) traded inner space for outer space. Perhaps reflecting Sellings’s unspecified scientific research conducted for the British government, the novel deals with a discovery, antigravity, that changes the physical laws of the universe. The result is a modification of the space-time continuum that allows a spaceship to travel at speeds faster than light, in a manner reminiscent of Star Trek.
Sellings continued to explore the familiar territory he had staked out in his earlier work. Intermind (1967), written under the pseudonym Ray Luther, combines elements of science fiction, horror, and spy story, as secret agent Dominic Ryder, assisted by the injected memory from the brain of a corpse, tracks down a scientist bent on destroying the world. The Power of X (1968), set in a London of the future where material objects can be instantaneously duplicated, involves a man with the innate ability to detect art forgeries.
Within a relatively short period of time, Sellings produced a significant body of short and long fiction that explored intriguing concepts while cutting across several genres at once. His career was unfortunately cut short when he died on September 24, 1968, leaving a widow who worked to have his last novel, the postholocaust Junk Day (1970), published posthumously.