Born in Mils in Tyrol on 3 June 1961.
Studied Mathematics in Innsbruck.
Studied Linguistic Philosophy at the universities of Stanford in California and Erlangen.
Doctorate awarded by the University of Innsbruck in 1988 for his thesis, On The Logic of Questions.
1988: successful debut with his story Einer.
1988/89: guest of the Literarisches Colloquium Berlin. (Berlin Literary Colloquium)
1990: Writer in Residence in Graz.

Free-lance writer, currently living with his family in Hamburg.

Prizes include:
1994 Berliner Literaturpreis (Berlin Literary Prize)
1999 Alfred-Döblin-Preis
2003 Uwe-Johnson-Preis
2004 Franz Nabl-Preis der Stadt Graz (Prize of the City of Graz)

Works include:
- Einer. Story. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 1988.
- Anderntags. Story. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 1989.
- Das Register. Novel. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 1992.
- Die englischen Jahre. Novel. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 1999. (The English Years, trans.: A. Bell, London: Harvill, 2002)
- Selbstportrait mit einer Toten. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 2000.
- Das Handwerk des Tötens. Novel. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 2003.
- Die Winter im Süden. München: Carl Hanser Verlag 2008. (Winters in the South, trans.: A. Bell, London: MacLehose Press, 2011)
- Die ganze Wahrheit. Novel. München: Hanser Verlag, 2010.
- In der Luft. Drei lange Erzählungen. München: Hanser, 2011.

Born in Mils in Tyrol on 3 June 1961.
Studied Mathematics in Innsbruck.
Studied Linguistic Philosophy at the universities of Stanford in California and Erlangen.
Doctorate awarded by the University of Innsbruck in 1988 for his thesis, On The Logic of Questions.
1988: successful debut with his story Einer.
1988/89: guest of the Literarisches Colloquium Berlin. (Berlin Literary Colloquium)
1990: Writer in Residence in Graz.

Free-lance writer, currently living with his family in Hamburg.

Prizes include:
1994 Berliner Literaturpreis (Berlin Literary Prize)
1999 Alfred-Döblin-Preis
2003 Uwe-Johnson-Preis
2004 Franz Nabl-Preis der Stadt Graz (Prize of the City of Graz)

Works include:
- Einer. Story. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 1988.
- Anderntags. Story. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 1989.
- Das Register. Novel. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 1992.
- Die englischen Jahre. Novel. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 1999. (The English Years, trans.: A. Bell, London: Harvill, 2002)
- Selbstportrait mit einer Toten. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 2000.
- Das Handwerk des Tötens. Novel. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 2003.
- Die Winter im Süden. München: Carl Hanser Verlag 2008. (Winters in the South, trans.: A. Bell, London: MacLehose Press, 2011)
- Die ganze Wahrheit. Novel. München: Hanser Verlag, 2010.
- In der Luft. Drei lange Erzählungen. München: Hanser, 2011.