AF archive/Alamy

(1917–85). The grim realities of war, the travails of German life during and after World War II, and the ironies that plague modern people form the main subject matter of Heinrich Böll’s many popular novels, short stories, and essays. He won the Nobel prize for literature in 1972.

Heinrich Theodor Böll was born in Cologne, Germany, on Dec. 21, 1917. He graduated from high school in 1937. During World War II he served in the German army for six years and saw action on several fronts. After the war he returned to Cologne.

Böll’s novels are vivid portrayals of the complex psychology of the German people. His first books, which were later published in English—The Train Was on Time (1949) and Adam, Where Art Thou? (1951)—depict soldiers who are having a final, desperate fling before going to their deaths. His most complex novel was Billiards at Half-Past Nine (1959), a story that employs extensive monologues and flashbacks. In The Clown (1963) Böll depicts a well-paid entertainer who because of drink deteriorates into a begging street musician. In Group Portrait with Lady (1971) Böll presents a panorama of the German people from World War I to the 1970s through the accounts of the many individuals who have figured in the life of one woman, Leni Pfeiffer. Among his other books are Acquainted with the Night (1953) and End of a Mission (1966).

Böll was also noted for his short stories, including “The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum” (1974), an indictment of the press written as a documentary. He died in Cologne on July 16, 1985.