Matthew Kneale was born on 24 November 1960 in London. He is a renowned British writer, best known for his 2000 novel English Passengers. Kneale studied Modern History at Oxford University and graduated in 1982. After graduation, he spent a year in Japan teaching English, where he began writing short stories.

Matthew Kneale hails from a literary family. He is the son of writers Nigel Kneale and Judith Kerr, and the grandson of essayist and theatre critic Alfred Kerr.