William Somerset Maugham was a highly successful English writer whose career spanned several decades of the twentieth century. Born in Paris and educated in England and Germany, Maugham initially trained as a physician in London, qualifying in 1897. However, he chose to abandon medicine immediately to pursue a full-time literary career. He first gained literary attention with his realist debut novel, Liza of Lambeth, but achieved his earliest major success as a West End playwright, at one point having four plays running simultaneously in London.\n\nMaugham eventually transitioned away from the theatre in the 1930s to focus entirely on prose. His novels, including the highly autobiographical masterpiece Of Human Bondage, The Moon and Sixpence, and The Razor's Edge, secured his reputation as a master storyteller. Known for his lucid, straightforward prose style, Maugham's work often explored human relationships, morality, and the complexities of social conventions. Despite his immense popularity and high sales, he frequently faced criticism from contemporary intellectual circles who dismissed his style as overly simplistic.\n\nDuring the First World War, Maugham served in the British Secret Service, an experience that heavily influenced his later espionage fiction. His extensive travels through Asia and the South Seas with his long-term partner, Gerald Haxton, also provided rich material for his celebrated short stories. Maugham spent his later years on the French Riviera, continuing to write until shortly after the Second World War. He died in 1965 at the age of 91.
