George Orwell is an author.
Eric Arthur Blair ( 25 June 1903 -- 21 January 1950 ) , better known by his pen name George Orwell , was an English novelist , essayist , journalist , and critic . Orwell wrote literary criticism , poetry , fiction , and polemical journalism . He is best known for the allegorical novella Animal Farm ( 1945 ) and the dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four ( 1949 ) . In 2008 , The Times ranked him second on a list of `` The 50 greatest British writers since 1945 '' .