Philip Kindred Dick (1928-1982) was an American author who transformed the science fiction genre through his exploration of reality, consciousness, and human identity. Born in Chicago and raised in California, Dick briefly worked in radio and attended the University of California, Berkeley, before embarking on a writing career.

His professional breakthrough came in 1952 with the publication of "Beyond Lies the Wub." Known for his remarkable productivity, Dick often completed a new short story or novella every two weeks for pulp magazines. His first novel, Solar Lottery, was published in 1955. Throughout his work, Dick developed a signature theme: the questionable nature of reality and perception. This preoccupation is evident in novels such as Time out of Joint (1959), his Hugo Award-winning The Man in the High Castle (1962), and The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch (1965), where characters struggle to navigate deceptive or alternate realities.

In later works, particularly The Simulacra (1964) and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968, later adapted as the film Blade Runner), Dick explored artificial intelligence and the nature of humanity. Rather than focusing on technological advances, as was common in science fiction at the time, Dick examined how futuristic and often dystopian settings psychologically affected his characters.

Despite his prolific output, including numerous short story collections and novels, Dick struggled with mental illness and drug dependency throughout his life. He died in poverty in Santa Ana, California, relatively unknown outside of science fiction circles. However, his reputation grew significantly after his death. By the 21st century, he was recognized as a master of paranoid fiction, often compared to Franz Kafka and Thomas Pynchon.

Dick's influence continues through numerous film adaptations of his work, including Blade Runner (1982), Total Recall (1990, 2012), Minority Report (2002), and A Scanner Darkly (2006). His novel The Man in the High Castle was adapted into a successful streaming series by Amazon (2015-2019). His unique vision and prescient themes have made him one of the most adapted and influential science fiction writers of the 20th century.