John Kilian Houston Brunner (September 24, 1934 –August 26,1995) was a prolific British author of science fiction novels and stories. He was born at Preston Crowmarsh, near Wallingford in Oxfordshire, and went to school at Cheltenham. He wrote his first novel, Galactic Storm, at 17, published under the name of Gill Hunt, but did not write full time until 1958.  He served as an officer in the Royal Air Force from 1953 to 1955, and married Marjorie Rosamond Sauer in 1958. His health began to decline in the 1980s, and worsened with the death of his wife Marjorie in 1986. He remarried, to Li Yi Tan, in 1991. Brunner died of a heart attack in Glasgow, Scotland on August 25, 1995, while attending the World Science Fiction Convention.

Brunner’s pen names include K. H. Brunner, Gill Hunt, John Loxmith, Trevor Staines, and Keith Woodcott. His 1968 novel, Stand on Zanzibar, about overpopulation, won the 1969 Hugo Award for best science fiction novel and the 1969 BSFA award.  As well as his fiction, he wrote many unpaid articles in a variety of publications, particularly fanzines. Brunner was an active member of the organization Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and wrote the words to The H-Bomb's Thunder which was sung on the Aldermaston Marches. He was a linguist and Guest of Honour at the first European Science Fiction Convention Eurocon-1 in Trieste in 1972. Brunner also wrote the screenplay for the 1967 science fiction film The Terrornauts by Amicus Productions. Two of his short stories, Some Lapse of Time and The Last Lonely Man were adapted as TV plays in the BBC science fiction series Out of the Unknown.