He spent his whole life in Stockholm, where he set his famous five part City Novels series (Swedish: Stadserien), describing the lives of successive generations of Stockholmers between 1860 and 1968: All five novels have been published in an English translation by Jennifer Brown Bäverstam.

A film adaptation of City of My Dreams (Swedish: Mina drömmars stad) was released in 1976, directed by Ingvar Skogsberg, with narration from Fogelström.

His 1949 novel Ligister ("Gangsters") was adapted into a film, released in 1950, titled While the City Sleeps (Swedish: Medan staden sover).

Fogelström himself wrote the screenplay, with some input from the renowned filmmaker Ingmar Bergman, while Lars-Eric Kjellgren served as director.

He received an honorary doctorate from Stockholm University in 1976, and was awarded the Swedish royal medal Litteris et Artibus in 1996.