Max Barry (born 18 March 1973) is an Australian author and software developer. He also maintains a blog on various topics, including politics.
Early life and education
Max Barry was born on 18 March 1973[2] in Stratford, Victoria, Australia.[3]
Career
When Barry published his first novel, Syrup, he spelled his name “Maxx”, “because he thought it would be a funny joke about marketing”, but subsequently has used “Max”.[4][2]
Barry is also the creator of NationStates, an online game created to help advertise his second novel, Jennifer Government, that eventually evolved into its own online community. In early 2004, Barry converted his website to a blog and began regularly posting to it.[2]
Company, published in 2006, was his third novel.[2] In the November 2004 issue of the magazine Fast Company the novel Company was ranked at number 8 on a list of the top 100 “people, ideas, and trends that will change how we work and live in 2005”.[5]
Barry wrote the screenplay for Syrup, which was released in theatres on 7 June 2013. Universal Pictures has acquired screen rights to Company, which will be adapted by Steve Pink. Jennifer Government was optioned by Steven Soderbergh and George Clooney‘s now defunct Section Eight Productions. His novel Machine Man initially was an online serial, but has since been updated and published in 2011 by Vintage Books. The film rights have been picked up by Mandalay Pictures.[6]
Bibliography
Novels
- Syrup (1999), ISBN 0-14-029187-3
- Jennifer Government (2003), ISBN 1-4000-3092-7
- Company (2006), ISBN 0-385-51439-5
- Machine Man (2011), ISBN 0-307-47689-8
- Lexicon (2013), ISBN 1-594-20538-8[7]
- Providence (2020), ISBN 978-0-593-08517-2
- The 22 Murders of Madison May (2021), ISBN 978-0-593-08520-2
- Discordia (2021) (audio only)
References
- ^ Michael Williams, “The great unknown”, The Age, 24 February 2007, A2, p. 26
- ^ a b c d “Max Barry”. Max Barry. 31 March 2020. Retrieved 7 June 2026.
- ^ Michael Williams, “The great unknown”, The Age, 24 February 2007, A2, p. 26
- ^ Barry, Max (2009). Jennifer Government. Doubleday. Back inside sleeve. ISBN 978-0-385-50759-2.
He is the author of the cult hit Syrup, although he spelled his name ‘Maxx’ for that novel, ‘because it seemed like a funny joke about marketing, and I failed to realize everyone would assume I was a pretentious asshole.’
- ^ Lidsky, David (Issue 88, November 2004). “Fast Forward 2005“. Fast Company. p.69
- ^ Mandalay wants to build Machine Man Variety. 4 November 2009.
- ^ Upcoming4.me. “Max Barry – Lexicon cover art (US&UK) and synopsis unveiled”. Upcoming4.me. Archived from the original on 12 December 2012. Retrieved 6 December 2013.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
External links
- Official website
- NationStates game
- Tales of Corporate Oppression
- “To Finish Writing A Novel, You Need To Be Delusional: Lee Bob Black Interviews Max Barry”
- Coupland, Douglas (19 February 2006). “Cubicle Living”. The New York Times. Archived from the original on 1 August 2016. (Review of Company
- Max Barry at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
