James Gordon Farrell (25 January 1935 – 11 August 1979) was a Liverpool-born novelist of Irish descent. He gained prominence for a series of novels known as the Empire Trilogy (Troubles, The Siege of Krishnapur and The Singapore Grip), which deal with the political and human consequences of British colonial rule.Farrell's career abruptly ended when he drowned in Ireland at the age of 44, swept to his death in a storm.