Amor Towles was born and raised in the Boston area, graduated from Yale College and received an MA in English from Stanford University. His thesis at Stanford, a short story cycle called “The Temptations of Pleasure”, was published in 1989 in Paris Review No.112. After working as an investment professional for over twenty years, he now devotes himself full time to writing. His novels have collectively sold more than six million copies and been translated into more than thirty languages. Mr. Towles is the 2023 recipient of the Peggy V. Helmerich Distinguished Author Award.

Mr. Towle’s newest book is a collection of short stories titled Table for Two (Viking, April 2, 2024). An immediate bestseller, The New York Times called it “a winner,” and the Star Tribune said “[his] new book could be his best yet.”

Mr. Towles’s first novel, Rules of Civility, which was published in 2011, was a New York Times bestseller and was named by The Wall Street Journal as one of the best books of 2011. The book has been translated into over 15 languages, its French translation receiving the 2012 Prix Fitzgerald. In the fall of 2012, the novel was optioned by Lionsgate to be made into a feature film.

Mr. Towles’s second novel, A Gentleman in Moscow, which was published in 2016, has been on The New York Times bestseller list for over 52 weeks in hardcover and was named one of the best books of 2016 by the Chicago Tribune, the Washington Post, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the San Francisco Chronicle, and NPR. The book has been translated into over thirty-five languages including Russian. An eight-episode series starring Ewan McGregor and Mary Elizabeth Winstead premiered on Paramount+/Showtime with The Guardian calling it “handsome and charming” and the Hollywood Reporter praising its “claustrophobic sumptuousness”.

Mr. Towle’s third novel, The Lincoln Highway, debuted at #1 on The New York Times bestseller list, and was a Today Show Read with Jenna Book Club Pick, one of The New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2021, a Washington Post Best Book of the Year, one of Barack Obama’s favorite books of 2021, was #1 on Amazon’s list of the Best Books of the Year, and was one of Bill Gates’ “5 great books for the summer.” The Lincoln Highway will be made into a movie adapted and directed by Christopher Storer for Warner Brothers.

Mr. Towles is the author of the ebook You Have Arrived at Your Destination, part of Amazon’s Forward collection. He also edited and wrote the introduction for The Mysterious Bookshop Presents the Best Mystery Stories of the Year 2023. He will be guest editor for The Best Short Stories 2024 (Vintage, September 10, 2024).
Mr. Towles lives in Manhattan with his wife and two children.

Sarah Lyall is a writer at large for The New York Times, writing for the sports, culture, media and international desks. She worked for many years in the Times London bureau and before that covered, among other things, the NYPD, Long Island and the book publishing industry. Ms. Lyall has also written for various magazines, including Vogue and Vanity Fair.  She is the author of The Anglo Files:  A Field Guide to the English and an audiobook, Unroyal: Three Women who Shook the Monarchy.  She lives in New York City. 

Photo Credit: Leo Jacob