[2] Two older brothers of Kjell Askildsen were held captive in Grini concentration camp.

[5][6] His first book, the short story collection Heretter følger jeg deg helt hjem (1953), raised controversy, especially in Mandal, for its sexual content.

He was awarded the Mads Wiel Nygaards Endowment in recognition of his novel, Omgivelser (1969), which was made into the 1973 movie Maria Marusjka, directed by Oddvar Bull Tuhus and starring Peter Lindgren.

Thomas F's siste nedtegnelser til almenheten (1983) won him the Norwegian Critics Prize for Literature.

In 2006, a jury appointed by the newspaper Dagbladet voted that collection the best prose book written in Norway during the last 25 years [1].