He made his literary debut in 1988 with the novel En vill flukt av parfymer.

Eller kunsten å leve et vilt og poetisk liv (English: Go.

The Art of Living a Wild and Poetic Life) from 2006 was nominated for the Nordic Council's Literature Prize.

[1] He was awarded the Norwegian Critics Prize for Literature for 2009 for his novel Imot kunsten (notatbøkene).

[2] In 2018 he issued the novel Elsken, and he was portrayed in the film Jeg vil bo i mitt navn, directed by Lars Erlend Tubaas Øymo.