Amélie Nothomb

Baroness Fabienne Claire Nothomb (French pronunciation: [fabjɛn klɛːʁ nɔtɔ̃b]; born 13 August 1967), better known by her pen name Amélie Nothomb (French: [ameli nɔtɔ̃b]), is a Belgian Francophone novelist.

Since the publication of her first novel Hygiene and the Assassin in 1992 at the age of twenty-six, Nothomb has published a book a year, and is regularly among the best selling French Language authors according to the Complete Review. 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.

Amélie Nothomb was born in Etterbeek, Brussels-Capital Region on 9 July 1966, although she has claimed to have been born in Kobe, Japan in 1967, whereas 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 an author of culinary and 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, initially planning to become a teacher After having finished her studies, Nothomb returned to Japan to work in a Japanese company in Tokyo.

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 Nothombs return to Japan was made in 2012.

Iin The Life of Hunger, and then in more detail in her book Psychopompe she describes to have been victim of rape at the age of twelve on a beach while living in Bangladesh, and she recounts in Le Livre des soeurs how she subsequently fought anorexia nervosa.

By a Royal Decree of 8 July 2015, Nothomb was ennobled as a non-hereditary baroness.

In a 2004 interview in La Libre Belgique, Nothomb stated that she writes four novels a year but publishes only one, not wanting the others to come out. She writes all her manuscripts rigorously by hand with a ballpoint pen in notebooks everyday from 4 a.m. to 8 a.m. "I do what I can to achieve it (serenity) by waking up every morning at 4 a.m. to write, to pursue to the utmost my passions, my urges, my inner violence, my energy and my endeavors." After that, she goes to her publishing house to reply to her readers, also in handwritten form. She receives several dozen letters from readers every day, and says that she tries to answer most of them personally.

She has claimed to own neither a computer nor a mobile phone.

She has stated in a podcast that when writing she only drinks black tea before lunch, stating that "strong tea on an empty stomach, in large quantities and with no milk or sugar, procures a state of dry and controllable inebriety, as well as the energy I need to write" and drinks Champagne after lunch. She had a period of abstinence from alcohol between the age of 13 and 33 in which she was struggling with her mental health.

Nothomb is notorious for her dramatic appearance, with bold fashion choices and contrasting makeup (alabaster foundation and red lipstick), sometimes appearing in striking hats and her makeup showing a Japanese influence.

She frequently discusses her presumed neurodivergent traits and frequently portrays characters with autistic traits. She lacks an official clinical diagnosis, stating "Several people have asked me if I am autistic. Maybe I am. But what is the point?" Her work The Character of Rain covers her early years and explores this.

She is an animal rights advocate and was once honorary president of CRAC, an international anti-bullfighting organization. The International Astronomical Union named an asteroid "Nothomb" in her honor in 2006.

By order of the sovereign Albert II, King of Belgium, on 9 July 2008, Amélie Nothumb was granted the distinguished honor of Commander of the Order of the Crown.

By sovereign order, 8 July 2015, Madame Fabienne Claire, also known as Amélie Nothumb, was granted the personal title of Baronness.

In 2015, Nothomb was elected a member of the Académie royale de langue et de littérature françaises de Belgique. She was chosen "by a vast majority" for "the importance of the work, her originality and her consistency, and her international influence," explained Jacques De Decker, the academy's permanent secretary. She assumed the seat of the Belgian writer and sinologist Simon Leys, whom she has praised with feeling.

1999: Hygiène de l'assassin (Hygiene and the Assassin), French movie directed by François Ruggieri, with Jean Yanne (Prétextat Tach) and Barbara Schulz (Nina).

2003: Stupeur et tremblements (Fear and Trembling), French movie directed by Alain Corneau with Sylvie Testud (Amélie) and Kaori Tsuji (Fubuki).

2014: Tokyo Fiancée, Belgian movie directed by Stefan Liberski with Pauline Etienne (Amélie) and Taichi Inoue (Rinri)

2021: A Perfect Enemy (adaptation of the novel, Cosmétique de l'ennemi), French movie directed by Kike Maíllo.

2025: Little Amélie or the Character of Rain, French animated film directed by Maïlys Vallade and Liane-Cho Han

Le sabotage amoureux (English: Loving sabotage), Theater Le Ranelagh, Paris, 1999

With Valérie Mairesse, Pétronille de Saint-Rapt, Vanessa Jarry

Le sabotage amoureux (Loving Sabotage), Theater Daniel-Sorano, Vincennes, 2003–2005

With Pauline Foschia, Jeanne Gougeau, Laurence Vielle

Adaptation et direction: Brigitte Bailleux, Laurence Vielle

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" :

Robert des noms propres (=The Book of Proper Names): Amélie Nothomb (author) and Véronique Groux de Miéri (narrator), La Roque-sur-Pernes, "Éditions VDB", 1 March 2003 (ISBN 978-2-84694-068-9) (Note BNF (FRENCH NATIONAL LIBRARY) no FRBNF39186856q).

Support: 3 audio CD (lasted: 3:15 am min, complete text), ref. V.D.B. 008.

Antéchrista (=Antichrista): Amélie Nothomb (author) and Véronique Groux de Miéri (narrator), La Roque-sur-Pernes, "Éditions VDB", 1 March 2004 (ISBN 978-2-84694-281-2) (Note BNF (FRENCH NATIONAL LIBRARY) no FRBNF412025642).

Support: 3 audio CD (lasted: 2:52 am min, complete text), ref. V.D.B. 033. Musical illustration: Thierry Duhamel.