His most notable novel Tutunamayanlar was published in 1971–72, and his second novel Tehlikeli Oyunlar was published in 1973. He joined Istanbul State Engineering and Architecture School (now, Yildiz Technical University) as a faculty member, and became an associate professor in 1975. He went to elementary and middle school in Ankara, completed his high school education at Ankara Maarif Koleji, and his undergraduate degree at ITU School of Civil Engineering. His father, Cemil Atay was a judge and also a Member of Parliament from the Republican People's Party. Oğuz Atay was born October 12, 1934, in the Turkish town of İnebolu, in the province of Kastamonu. It has been described as “probably the most eminent novel of twentieth-century Turkish literature”: this reference is due to a UNESCO survey, which goes on: “it poses an earnest challenge to even the most skilled translator with its kaleidoscope of colloquialisms and sheer size.” In fact four translations have so far been published: into Dutch, as Het leven in stukken, translated by Hanneke van der Heijden and Margreet Dorleijn (Athenaeum-Polak & v Gennep, 2011) into German, as Die Haltlosen, translated by Johannes Neuner (Binooki, 2016) into English, as The Disconnected, translated by Sevin Seydi (Olric Press, 2017: ISBN 978-0-995): an excerpt from this won the Dryden Translation Prize in 2008 (Comparative Critical Studies, vol. Never reprinted in his lifetime and controversial among critics, it has become a best-seller since a new edition came out in 1984.

His first novel, Tutunamayanlar ( The Disconnected), appeared in 1971–72. Oğuz Atay (Octo– December 13, 1977) was a pioneer of the modern novel in Turkey.

Oguz atay books in english