World Literary Awards

← Back to Home

Philip K. Dick

フィリップ・K・ディック

Philip K. Dick

Pen Names: Richard Phillipps（Pen name used for some short stories）, Jack Dowland（Pen name used for some short stories）

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1928-12-16 （Chicago, Illinois, U.S.）
Died
1982-03-02 （Santa Ana, California, U.S.） age 53
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Religion
Acosmic panentheism (self-described)
Residence History
Chicago (birth) → San Francisco Bay Area (childhood onwards) → Reno (father's transfer) → Washington, D.C. (during mother's move) → Orange County, California (later years)

Career

Occupations
Novelist, Short story writer, Essayist
Active Years
1951-1982
Influenced By
Carl Jung (intellectual influence), Plato (philosophical influence), Poets such as Robert Duncan (Berkeley circle)
Influenced
Jonathan Lethem (novelist), K. W. Jeter (author), Filmmakers and screenwriters (influence on directors like Ridley Scott, Steven Spielberg)

Education

University of California, Berkeley
Took classes in history, psychology, philosophy and zoology
Period: 1949–1950（中退・名誉退学処理）
Country: United States
Did not declare a major; left the university and received an honorable dismissal.

Awards

Hugo Award for Best Novel
1963
Work: The Man in the High Castle
Category: 最優秀長編
Organization: World Science Fiction Society (Hugo Awards)
Result: winner
John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel
1975
Work: Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said
Category: 最優秀長編
Organization: John W. Campbell Memorial Award committee
Result: winner
British Science Fiction Association Award (Best Novel)
1978
Work: A Scanner Darkly
Category: 最優秀長編
Organization: British Science Fiction Association
Result: winner
Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame
2005
Organization: Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame
Result: inducted
Kurd-Laßwitz-Preis
1985
Work: VALIS
Organization: Kurd-Laßwitz-Preis committee
Result: winner
Nebula Award (nominee)
1965
Work: Dr. Bloodmoney
Category: 最優秀長編（ノミネート）
Organization: Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA)
Result: nominee
Nebula Award (nominee)
1968
Work: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Category: 最優秀長編（ノミネート）
Organization: Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA)
Result: nominee
Hugo Award (nominee)
1975
Work: Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said
Category: 最優秀長編（ノミネート）
Organization: World Science Fiction Society (Hugo Awards)
Result: nominee

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Man in the High Castle

1962 Alternative history / Science fiction 256 pages

An alternative-history novel set in a world where the Axis powers won WWII; explores differing realities and the nature of truth and power.

alternate historyrelativity of realitypower and propaganda
Adaptations
  • [Television (series)] The Man in the High Castle / Amazon Studios（複数監督） (2015)
Translations
  • The Man in the High Castle (Japanese translation)

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

1968 Dystopia / Science fiction 210 pages

Set on a poisoned, depopulated Earth, it questions the boundary between androids and humans and the meaning of empathy.

what constitutes humanityempathy vs. mechanizationpost-humanism
Adaptations
  • [Film] Blade Runner (loose adaptation) / リドリー・スコット (1982)
  • [Radio drama] Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (BBC Radio 4) (2014)
Translations
  • Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (Japanese translation)

Ubik

1969 Philosophical SF / Psychological SF 216 pages

An experimental novel that depicts the erosion of reality and multiplicity of 'truth' through altered states and half-life.

erosion of realityconsciousness and half-lifeepistemic uncertainty

Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said

1974 Dystopia / Science fiction 176 pages

Set in a near-future police state where a celebrity's identity is erased; examines identity and social memory.

loss of identitysurveillance statememory and social recognition

A Scanner Darkly

1977 Drug literature / Science fiction 272 pages

An undercover narcotics agent loses his grip on reality due to a drug he is investigating; a paranoid, first-person narrative.

drug addictionfractured identitysurveillance and betrayal
Adaptations
  • [Film (rotoscoped)] A Scanner Darkly (film) / リチャード・リンクレイター (2006)

VALIS

1981 Philosophical, semi-autobiographical SF 304 pages

Based on PKD's 1974 mystical experiences (2-3-74); explores religion, metaphysics and communication with a Vast Active Living Intelligence System.

religious revelationmetaphysicsinterpretation of self and history

Bibliography

  • Solar Lottery (1955)
  • The Man in the High Castle (1962)
  • Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968)
  • Ubik (1969)
  • Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said (1974)
  • A Scanner Darkly (1977)
  • VALIS (1981)

Adaptations

  • Blade Runner (1982 film, loosely based on Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?)
  • Total Recall (1990 & 2012 films, based on 'We Can Remember It for You Wholesale')
  • A Scanner Darkly (2006 film, adapted from the novel)
  • The Man in the High Castle (2015–2019 television series)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
paranoid fictionphilosophical and metaphysical inquiryexperimentally blurring boundaries of realitypostmodern elements
Recurring Motifs
fragility of 'reality'phantom twin motifdrugs and altered consciousnessmonopolistic corporations and controlsimulated/alternate realities

Health

  • Substance abuse (primarily amphetamines)
    1950年代–1970年代
    Affected productivity and personal life; contributed to the mental health crisis in the early 1970s.
  • Strokes (multiple)
    1982年（致命的）
    Suffered strokes in 1982 leading to coma and subsequent death.

Legacy

Regarded as one of the major 20th-century science fiction writers; his works on reality, identity and consciousness have influenced literature, film, music and games. Posthumously widely adapted and subject to extensive scholarship.

Museums

  • Philip K. Dick Science Fiction Collection (Pollak Library) Pollak Library, California State University, Fullerton, Fullerton, CA, USA

Academic Societies

  • Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame
  • Subject of numerous literary and media studies societies

Archives

  • Pollak Library, California State University, Fullerton (manuscripts and papers)

In Popular Culture

  • Provided source material or inspiration for major films such as Blade Runner, Total Recall, Minority Report
  • Television adaptations including The Man in the High Castle and the anthology Electric Dreams

Quotes

  • Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.
    Source: Attributed interview/various writings

Trivia

  • Debuted in 1951 with the short story 'Roog' and wrote dozens of novels and over a hundred short stories.
  • The 1974 mystical experiences ('2-3-74') strongly influenced his later work.
  • Used the pen names Richard Phillipps and Jack Dowland.
  • Died of complications from a stroke in 1982; many works were adapted posthumously.