Portrait of Brian Aldiss

Birthday profile

Brian Aldiss

Brian Aldiss, English author and critic (died 2017)

Born
August 18, 1925
Died
August 19, 2017
Zodiac sign
Leo
Birth year
1925

About Brian Aldiss

Brian Wilson Aldiss (; 18 August 1925 – 19 August 2017) was an English writer, artist and anthology editor, best known for science-fiction novels and short stories. His byline reads either Brian W. Aldiss or simply Brian Aldiss, except for occasional pseudonyms during the mid-1960s. Greatly influenced by science fiction pioneer H. G. Wells, Aldiss was a vice-president of the international H. G. Wells Society. He was co-president of the Birmingham Science Fiction Group with Harry Harrison. Aldiss was named a Grand Master by the Science Fiction Writers of America in 1999 and inducted by the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2004. He received two Hugo Awards, one Nebula Award and one John W. Campbell Memorial Award. He wrote the short story "Supertoys Last All Summer Long" (1969), the basis for the Stanley Kubrick-developed Steven Spielberg film A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001). Aldiss was associated with the British New Wave of science fiction. As a result, Faber and Faber published Aldiss's first book, The Brightfount Diaries (1955), a 200-page novel in diary form about the life of a sales assistant in a bookshop. According to ISFDB, his first speculative fiction in print was the short story Criminal Record, published by John Carnell in the July 1954 issue of Science Fantasy.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Brian Aldiss timeline

  1. Brian Wilson Aldiss (; 18 August 1925 – 19 August 2017) was an English writer, artist and anthology editor, best known for science-fiction novels and short stories.
  2. According to ISFDB, his first speculative fiction in print was the short story Criminal Record, published by John Carnell in the July 1954 issue of Science Fantasy.
  3. As a result, Faber and Faber published Aldiss's first book, The Brightfount Diaries (1955), a 200-page novel in diary form about the life of a sales assistant in a bookshop.

The world when Brian Aldiss was born

Brian Aldiss was born in 1925. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1925

  • #1 song"Sweet Georgia Brown"
  • Top movieThe Gold Rush (Charlie Chaplin)
  • Best-selling bookThe Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentRed Grange signs with the Chicago Bears
  • Top headlineThe Scopes Trial captivates America
  • Technology milestoneTelevision demonstrated by John Logie Baird
  • Defining fadCharleston dance craze
  • Notable inventionMasking tape
  • World population1.98 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderCalvin Coolidge
  • Sports championPittsburgh Pirates (World Series)
  • U.S. population115.8M

1925 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Brian Aldiss's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19252026
Gas$0.22$3.45/gal
Average home$5,900$435,000
Average income$3,600$67,500
Movie ticket$0.25$11.95
Postage stamp$0.02$0.73
Population115.8M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Library of Congress, Wikidata. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.