B. S. Johnson
Bryan Stanley William Johnson, known as B. S. Johnson, was an innovative and experimental British writer born on February 5, 1933, in London. Despite a working-class background and a turbulent childhood marked by evacuation during World War II, Johnson's passion for literature led him to pursue education at night school, ultimately earning a degree in English from King's College London. He began his literary career in the 1960s, publishing his first novel, *Travelling People*, in 1963, and quickly became known for his avant-garde style, drawing comparisons to literary giants like James Joyce and Samuel Beckett.
Johnson's work often incorporated unconventional formats and metafictional elements, such as the novel *Albert Angelo*, which featured an actual hole in a page, and *The Unfortunates*, presented as a box of loose-leaf sections for flexible reading. He also explored innovative typography in his poetry. Despite his creative achievements, Johnson struggled with financial issues and a lack of recognition, leading to personal despair. Tragically, he took his own life on November 13, 1973. His contributions to literature gained more attention posthumously, with honors including the Somerset Maugham Award and a biography by Jonathan Coe that won the Samuel Johnson Prize in 2005, indicating a revival of interest in his work and legacy.
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Subject Terms
B. S. Johnson
- Born: February 5, 1933
- Birthplace: London, England
- Died: November 13, 1973
- Place of death: London, England
Biography
Bryan Stanley William Johnson was born on February 5, 1933, in London, England, to Stanley Wilfrid and Emily Jane Johnson. Johnson’s childhood memories included being evacuated from London during World War II. His family was working class, and because he did not pass the exam that would allow him to stay in school, he left at sixteen and became an accountant. Nevertheless, he took Latin at night school, which eventually allowed him to earn admission to King’s College in London. He graduated with a B.A. and honors in English in 1959.
After graduation, Johnson worked variously as a novelist, poet, playwright, and filmmaker. He published his first novel, Travelling People, in 1963 and a collection of poetry in 1964. His work was often compared to that of James Joyce and Samuel Beckett, two writers whom Johnson admired.
Johnson’s work was always highly experimental and displayed both verbal and structural inventiveness. His novel Albert Angelo had a hole cut in the middle of page 149; the hole was both a plot device and a means through which readers could skip forward or look back. The Unfortunates was published in a box of loose-leaf sections to enable readers to read the novel in any order they desired. He also experimented with many metafictional devices; for example, in Christie Malry’s Own Double-Entry, he inserts himself as a character to engage in conversations with the book’s protagonist. He employed odd and innovative typography in his poetry, creating concrete and experimental poems.
Johnson met his wife Virginia Ann Klimpton in 1963; the couple had two daughters. Although Johnson seemed to find solace in his family, he grew increasingly despondent because of money problems and the lack of recognition for his work. On November 13, 1973, while separated from his family, he took his own life.
Although Johnson did not live long, he wrote prolifically. In the ten years between the publication of his first novel and his death, he produced seven novels as well as many poems, short stories, screenplays, and scripts for radio and television productions. In 2000, a film based on Christie Malry’s Own Double-Entry was released.
Johnson’s body of work was honored with a number of awards. Travelling People and Poems were both recipients of the Gregory Award. He also won the Somerset Maugham Award in 1967 for Trawl. His 1968 screenplay, You’re Human like the Rest of Them, won the Grand Prix at both the Tours International Short Film Festival and the Melbourne International Short Film Festival. In 1970, he was appointed First Gregynog Arts Fellow at the University of Wales. His obituary, published in The Times on November 15, 1973, called him “one of the most naturally gifted writers of his generation.”
In 2004, Jonathan Coe published a well-received biography of Johnson, Like a Fiery Elephant: The Story of B. S. Johnson. This book won the 2005 Samuel Johnson Prize, which suggests that Johnson’s work has received more serious consideration in the early twenty-first century than it did during the writer’s lifetime.