Jonathan Littell
An American novelist who shocked the literary world with a brutal, award-winning French-language epic from the perspective of an SS officer.
Born 1967 (age 59)·American-French writer·Birthday: October 10·Generation X
Biography
Jonathan Littell was born in New York but has spent most of his life in Europe, a trajectory that foreshadowed his literary bombshell. After working in humanitarian aid, he channeled a deep, unsettling study of 20th-century violence into his first French novel, 'Les Bienveillantes' (The Kindly Ones). Published in 2006, the book is a monumental, first-person narrative of a fictional SS officer's wartime experiences and its aftermath, blending meticulous historical detail with profound moral horror. Its reception was seismic, capturing France's top literary prizes and igniting fierce debate about the limits of fiction and the representation of evil. Littell, who writes primarily in French and lives in Barcelona, continues to produce challenging work, including documentary texts and novels that probe the mechanics of power and trauma.
Generation X
1965–1980
The latchkey kids. Raised during divorce, recession, and the end of the Cold War. Skeptical, self-reliant, media-literate. They invented indie culture, grunge, and the early internet — then watched the Boomers take credit.
Jonathan was born in 1967, placing them squarely in the Generation X. The events that shaped this generation — economic uncertainty, the end of the Cold War, and the rise of personal computing — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Jonathan Was Born
The biggest hits of 1967
#1 Movie
The Jungle Book
Best Picture
In the Heat of the Night
#1 TV Show
The Andy Griffith Show
Jonathan's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1967Born
Summer of Love in San Francisco; first Super Bowl
Gas: $0.33/galHome: $14,250Min wage: $1.40/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"To Sir, with Love" — LuluBest Picture: In the Heat of the Night
1972Started school
Watergate break-in; last Apollo Moon mission
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $19,550Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" — Roberta FlackBest Picture: The Godfather
1980Became a teenager
John Lennon shot and killed in New York
Gas: $1.19/galHome: $47,200Min wage: $3.10/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Call Me" — BlondieBest Picture: Ordinary People
1983Could drive
Internet adopts TCP/IP, creating the modern internet
Gas: $1.16/galHome: $57,700Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Every Breath You Take" — The PoliceBest Picture: Terms of Endearment
1985Could vote
Live Aid concerts raise money for Ethiopian famine
Gas: $1.12/galHome: $62,900Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Careless Whisper" — Wham!Best Picture: Out of Africa
1988Turned 21
Pan Am Flight 103 bombed over Lockerbie
Gas: $0.90/galHome: $74,800Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Faith" — George MichaelBest Picture: Rain Man
1997Turned 30
Princess Diana dies in Paris car crash; Harry Potter published
Gas: $1.23/galHome: $104,100Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Candle in the Wind 1997" — Elton JohnBest Picture: Titanic
2007Turned 40
iPhone released; Great Recession begins
Gas: $2.80/galHome: $172,600Min wage: $5.85/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Irreplaceable" — BeyonceBest Picture: No Country for Old Men
2017Turned 50
#MeToo movement; solar eclipse crosses the US
Gas: $2.42/galHome: $195,000Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Donald Trump"Shape of You" — Ed SheeranBest Picture: The Shape of Water
2026Age 59 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Won the Prix Goncourt, France's most prestigious literary prize, for his debut novel 'The Kindly Ones' in 2006.
- Also received the Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française for the same novel in the same year.
- Authored a massive, 900+ page novel in French despite it not being his native language.
- His novel 'The Kindly Ones' became an international bestseller and was translated into numerous languages.
Did You Know?
He is the son of thriller writer Robert Littell.
He worked for the humanitarian agency Action Against Hunger in conflict zones like Bosnia and Chechnya.
He holds dual American and French citizenship.
Before his literary fame, he wrote two English-language novels that were not published.
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