The BBC reports that novelist, essayist and short-story writer James Graham (JG) Ballard died on Sunday morning, April 19, 2009 following several years of illness. He was 78.

Ballard was a British citizen who was born in Shanghai, China and educated at Cambridge University. He wrote 19 novels and dozens of short stories. His most recent novel was Kingdom Come, which was published in 2006. Ballard’s best known works were Crash, and Empire of the Sun, both of which were made into motion pictures. Empire of the Sun was based on his experiences in a Japanese prison camp in China at age 12.

His dystopian writing influenced many of today science fiction writers and was a precursor to the cyberpunk movement. "Ballardian" is now an adjective representing bleak dystopian modernity.

Memorial plans have not been announced at this time.