For book lovers and aficionados, the name William S Burroughs needs no introduction of sorts. For the rest, Burroughs was one of the seminal writers of the Beat generation, his works being culturally influential and politically insightful. In his lifetime, he wrote 18 novels and novellas, six collections of short stories and four collections of essays, which have left a deep impact and influenced popular cultures and literature. Interestingly, most of his works are semi-autobiographical in nature, wherein he gives an account of his personal experiences of heroin addiction. Right from his debut novel, ‘Junkie’ he tasted success. His third novel ‘Naked Lunch’ catapulted his position in the literary circles. However, it created a lot of controversy as well and was the last major book to be prosecuted for obscenity in the United States. Over the years, he has not only been an influential novelist for budding writers but a prominent personality for musicians such as Roger Waters, Patti Smith, Genesis P-Orridge, Ian Curtis, Lou Reed, Laurie Anderson, Tom Waits and Kurt Cobain. In 1983, he was elected to the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, and a year later was awarded the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by France.