Ben Markovits grew up in Texas, London and Berlin. He is the author of many novels, including Either Side of Winter, You Don't Have To Live Like This and The Rest of Our Lives, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2025 . He has published essays, stories, poetry and reviews on subjects ranging from the Romantics to American sports in the Guardian, Granta, The Paris Review and The New York Times, among others. In 2013 Granta selected him as one of their Best of Young British Novelists, in 2015 he won the Eccles British Library Writer in Residence Award and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. He lives in London and teaches creative writing at Royal Holloway, University of London.