[3][4][5][6] He wrote nearly fifty books[7][8]—both novels and non-fiction works—as well as wide-ranging essays, narratives, and poems.

Born into the prominent Huxley family, he graduated from Balliol College, Oxford with an undergraduate degree in English literature.

He spent the latter part of his life in the United States, living in Los Angeles from 1937 until his death.

[9] By the end of his life, Huxley was widely acknowledged as one of the foremost intellectuals of his time.

He grew interested in philosophical mysticism[13][14] and universalism,[15] addressing these subjects with works such as The Perennial Philosophy (1945)—which illustrates commonalities between Western and Eastern mysticism—and The Doors of Perception (1954)—which interprets his own psychedelic experience with mescaline.