Malone Dies was first published in French in 1951 under the title Malone Meurt. Samuel Beckett the author of the novel native to Ireland, later translated the book into English so that it could reach a wider audience. Malone Dies is the second of "The Trilogy" which began with Molloy, which was also published in 1951.
The novel begins when Malone, the main character and debatable protagonist, discovers himself in an empty room, with almost everything he had (including his clothes) missing. Unsure if this is an insane asylum or some kind of odd hospital, he writes the story of himself and a younger boy he knows, named Sapo.
Samuel Beckett was an Irish writer and theater director, and lived in Paris for most of his life - thus, this novel was originally published in French. Beckett had the honor of winning the 1969 Nobel Prize in Literature, twenty years before he died. Beckett is known for integrating characters from his previous works into newer works, and Murphy and Molloy are two of the characters seen in this novel.
