Philip K. Dick (1928-1982) was an American science fiction writer whose work profoundly influenced modern speculative fiction. Author of numerous novels and short stories, including Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and The Man in the High Castle, Dick is known for his exploration of altered reality, unstable identity, and authoritarian control. His early short fiction, including The Variable Man, laid the groundwork for the philosophical and psychological concerns that would define his career.