Jim Thompson was born in Anadarko, Oklahoma, the son of a county sheriff. His family relocated to Texas during his childhood. His first short stories were published in his teen years. As a hotel worker, he had access to bootleg liquor and drugs, and he smoked and drank heavily. At 19 he had a nervous breakdown. In 1926 he took work in an oil field laborer, then returned to Fort Worth to to attend school and write. In 1929 he began attending the University of Nebraska, but he dropped out two years later and married. Their first child was born in 1932. Thompson worked as a true crime reporter and as a journalist for the next few years. His first novel, Now And On Earth, was published in 1942. His writing developed into the hardboiled style of crime fiction in the 1950s. His most famous book, The Killer Inside Me, was first published in 1952. In 1955 he moved to Hollywood, CA to work on film scripts. He remained in California even after his career in film ended and his popularity as a novelist waned. He died at the age of 71 after a series of strokes.