The Anselm Kristlein trilogy () is three novels by the German writer

Martin Walser Martin Johannes Walser (; 24 March 1927 – 26 July 2023) was a German writer, known especially as a novelist. He began his career as journalist for ''Süddeutscher Rundfunk'', where he wrote and directed audio plays. He was a member of Group 47 ...

. The trilogy consists of the novels ''Halbzeit'' (1960), ''The Unicorn'' () (1966, English 1971) and ''Der Sturz'' (1973), with a combined length of over 1500 pages. The largely

autobiographical novel An autobiographical novel, also known as an autobiographical fiction, fictional autobiography, or autobiographical fiction novel, is a type of novel which uses autofiction techniques, or the merging of autobiographical and fictive elements. The ...

s centre on Anselm Kristlein as he makes a career as a salesman, advertising worker and eventually author. They concern life and consciousness in post-war West Germany. Kristlein appears as a detached dreamer but not an outsider, because no such thing can exist in the way the novels portray society akin to

natural history Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

. The trilogy has been described as Walser's magnum opus. ''The Unicorn'' was the basis for the 1978 film '' The Unicorn''.

References

{{Martin Walser Novel series Literary trilogies Novels by Martin Walser German autobiographical novels Book series introduced in 1960 Novel series by featured character