Michel Houellebecq (born 26 February 1956 or 1958) is a French writer and occasional actor, film director and singer.
Novels
Extension du domaine de la lutte (1994, Maurice Nadeau, trans. as Whatever by Paul Hammond, 1998) Les Particules élémentaires (1998, Flammarion, trans. as Atomised by Frank Wynne, 2000; published in the US as The Elementary Particles) Lanzarote (2000, trans. by Frank Wynne, 2002) (short novel) Plateforme (2001, Flammarion, trans. as Platform by Frank Wynne, 2002) La Possibilité d'une île (2005, Fayard, trans. as The Possibility of an Island by Gavin Bowd, 2006) La Carte et le Territoire (2010, Flammarion, trans. as The Map and the Territory by Gavin Bowd, 2012) Soumission (2015, Flammarion, trans. as Submission by Lorin Stein, 2015) Sérotonine (2019, Flammarion, trans. as Serotonin by Shaun Whiteside, 2019) Anéantir (2022, Flammarion)
Poetry
La Poursuite du bonheur, poèmes (1992, La Différence) Le Sens du combat, poèmes (1996, Flammarion) Renaissance, poèmes (1999, Flammarion) Configuration du dernier rivage, poèmes (2013, Flammarion) Non réconcilié: Anthologie personnelle, 1991-2013 (2014, Gallimard, trans. as Unreconciled: Poems 1991–2013 by Gavin Bowd, 2017)
Essays and other books
H. P. Lovecraft: Contre le monde, contre la vie (1991, trans. as H. P. Lovecraft: Against the World, Against Life by Dorna Khazeni, introduction by Stephen King, 2005), an analysis of the life and work of H. P. Lovecraft. Rester vivant, méthode (1991, La Différence). Interventions (1998, Flammarion), collection of articles (including the lengthy mini-essay "Approches du désarroi"), interviews, letters and poetry. Expanded in 2009 as Interventions 2 and in 2020 as Interventions 2020. Ennemis publics (2008, Flammarion, transl. as Public Enemies: Dueling Writers Take on Each Other and the World, 2011), an exchange by e-mail between Michel Houellebecq and Bernard-Henri Lévy En présence de Schopenhauer, L'Herne (2017) Interventions 2020 (2020, Flammarion) Quelques mois dans ma vie (2023, Flammarion)
Articles
"Préface : Renoncer à l'intelligence" (1991) in Rémy de Gourmont, L'Odeur des jacinthes, Paris: Orphée / La Différence, pp. 7–20. "Le haut langage" (1995) in La Quinzaine littéraire, 670; Paris; pp. 21–22. "Un monde sans direction" (1996) in La Quinzaine littéraire, 700; Paris; pp. 8–9. "Approches du désarroi" (1997), in Dix, Les Inrockuptibles / Grasset (lengthy article or short essay which provides a thorough account of Houellebecq's theoretical views, developed in his contemporary novels Whatever and Atomised, including an unflinching charge against consumerism and advertising). "La question pédophile : Réponse" (1997) in L'Infini 59, Paris: Gallimard, pp. 96–98. "Préface : L'Humanité, second stade" (1998) in Valérie Solanas, SCUM Manifesto, Paris: Éditions Mille et une nuits, pp. 63–69. "Je crois peu en la liberté – Entretien" (1998) in Revue Perpendiculaire 11, Paris: Flammarion, p. 4–23. "Michel Houellebecq répond à Perpendiculaire" (1998) in Le Monde 18 September 1998. "La privatisation du monde" (2000) in L'Atelier du roman 23, Paris, pp. 129–34. "Neil Young" (2000) in Michka Assayas (ed.) Dictionnaire du rock, Paris: Robert Laffont (second part of the article, co-signed with Yves Bigot who wrote the more chronological first part). "Wilde Flucht" (2000) in Tageszeitung Berlin, 30 October 2000. "Préface" in Tomi Ungerer, Erotoscope (2001), Éditions Taschen, Paris. "Description d'une lassitude" (2002) in Houelle 10, Paris. "L'homme de gauche est mal parti" (2003) in Le Figaro 6/1/2003, p. 1, 13. "Préface : Préliminaires au positivisme" (2003) in Bourdeau, Braunstein & Petit (eds.): Auguste Comte aujourd'hui, Paris: Éditions Kimé, pp. 7–12. (translated as "Religion for Immortals," The Utopian, December, 2010). "Mourir" (2005) on homepage.mac.com/michelhouellebecq (autobiographical account, written following the publication of Houellebecq non autorisé, which deeply disturbed the author). "En présence de Schopenhauer" (2010) on Mediapart.fr, feb. 2010 (5 parts). "Donald Trump Is a Good President" (2019) in Harper's Magazine, January 2019. "Une civilisation qui légalise l’euthanasie perd tout droit au respect" (2021) in Le Figaro, 10 April 2021.
Audio albums
Le Sens du combat (1996) Paris: Les Poétiques de France Culture. Présence humaine (2000) Paris: Tricatel. Établissement d'un ciel d'alternance (2007) Paris: Grrr.