Joseph Heller was an American author renowned for his novels, short stories, plays, and screenplays. Born on May 1, 1923, and passing away on December 12, 1999, Heller's most famous work is the 1961 novel Catch-22, a satire on war and bureaucracy. The title has become synonymous with an absurd or contradictory choice. Heller was nominated in 1972 for the Nobel Prize in Literature.