Baroness Fabienne Claire Nothomb (born 13 August 1967 ), better known by her pen name Amélie Nothomb, is a Belgian Francophone novelist. Part of her childhood was spent in Asia. A prolific author, since the publication of her first novel Hygiene and the Assassin in 1992, at the age of twenty-six, she has published a book a year. Her novels are among the top literary sales and have been translated into several languages. She is a Commander of the Order of the Crown and has had the title of Baroness bestowed upon her by King Philippe of Belgium. Her satirical novel about corporate life in Japan Fear and Trembling won the Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française in 1999, and in 2015 she was elected to the Royal Academy of French Language and Literature in Belgium.

Biography

Research shows Amélie Nothomb was born in Etterbeek, Brussels-Capital Region on 9 July 1966. As an artist, she has consistently claimed metaphorically to have been born in Kobe, Japan in 1967 while records show her living there only from ages two to five. Subsequently, she lived in China, New York City, Bangladesh, Burma, the United Kingdom (Coventry) and Laos. She stems from a Belgian noble family. Her father was the Belgian diplomat Patrick Nothomb, and she is the grandniece of Charles-Ferdinand Nothomb, a Belgian foreign minister (1980–1981), and great-granddaughter of writer and politician Pierre Nothomb. She has one brother (André Nothomb) and one sister, Juliette Nothomb, who is a writer of children's books. While in Japan, Nothomb attended a local school and learned Japanese. When she was five, the family moved to China. She remarked in Fear and Trembling that leaving Japan was "a wrenching separation for me". She studied philology at the Université Libre de Bruxelles. Having finished her studies, Nothomb returned to Japan to work in a Japanese company in Tokyo. Her experience of this time is expressed in Fear and Trembling. Nothomb's first novel, Hygiène de l'assassin, was published in 1992. Since then, she has published approximately one novel per year, including Les Catilinaires (1995), Fear and Trembling (1999) and Métaphysique des tubes (2000). She has been awarded numerous prizes, including the 1993 Prix Jacques-Chardonne, the 1999 Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française, the Grand prix Jean Giono (2008), and since 2015 has been a member of the Belgium Royal Academy of French language and literature. She wrote a romanticized biography (The Book of Proper Names) of French female singer Robert in 2002 and during the period 2000–2002 wrote the lyrics for nine tracks by the same artist. A documentary — Amélie Nothomb: une vie entre deux eaux (a life between two waters) — co-written and directed by Laurelinne Amanieux and Luca Chiari, about Amélie's return to Japan and rediscovery of the beauty of the landscapes, the peaceful rites, the sadness of Fukushima, but especially, the meeting with her Japanese nursemaid, Nishio San was made in 2012. By a Royal Decree of 8 July 2015, Nothomb was ennobled as a non-hereditary baroness. Her novel Premier sang depicts the fictional memoirs of her father who had died in 2020 and written in the first person won the Prix Renaudot 2021.

Works

Books

Unless otherwise stated, all works were originally published in French by Éditions Albin Michel.

Adaptations

Film adaptations

Stage adaptations

With Valérie Mairesse, Pétronille de Saint-Rapt, Vanessa Jarry Direction: Annabelle Milot With Pauline Foschia, Jeanne Gougeau, Laurence Vielle Adaptation et direction: Brigitte Bailleux, Laurence Vielle With John Durand and Olivier Renault Adaptation and direction: Emmanuel Samatani and Jean-Daniel Uldry With Michel Boy, Julie Turin, Grégory Gerrebo Direction: Stéphane Cottin With Cécile Schletzer and Claire Rieussec Direction: Claire Rieussec With Daniel Hanssens, Nathalie Cornet, Valérie Marchand and Vincent Lécuyer Direction: Pierre Santini With Nathalie Cornet, Michel Hinderyckx, Jessica Gazon, Stéphanie Blanchoud... Adaptation and direction: Christine Delmotte With Philippe Doré, Freddy Zimmer, Florine Moreau Direction: Hubert Vinzani With Layla Metssitane Adaptation and direction: Layla Metssitane

Audio books

Eight of Amélie Nothomb's novels were adapted in the form of audio books, the first four were published by the editions "VDB", the others by "Audiolib" : Support: 3 audio CD (lasted: 3:15 am min, complete text), ref. V.D.B. 008. Support: 3 audio CD (lasted: 2:52 am min, complete text), ref. V.D.B. 033. Musical illustration: Thierry Duhamel. Support: 4 audio CD (lasted: 4:17 am min, complete text), ref. V.D.B. 074. Musical illustration: Thierry Duhamel. Support: 3 audio CD (lasted: 5:39 am min, complete text), ref. V.D.B. 104. Musical illustration: Thierry Duhamel. Support: 1 audio CD (lasted: 3:50 am min, complete text), ref. Audiolib 25 0012 02. Support: 1 audio CD (lasted: 3:00 am min, complete text), ref. Audiolib 25 0049 4. Support: 2 audio CD (lasted: 1:54 am min, complete text), ref. Audiolib 25 0129 4. Support: 1 audio CD (lasted: 2:42 am min, complete text), ref. Audiolib 25 281 3.