Joseph Heller on AllMovie

American writer Joseph Heller will forever be most remembered for his darkly humorous first novel, entitled Catch-22, the title of which became a part of the English lexicon, referring to any unwinnable situation. Born in New York City, Heller joined the Air Force at age 19 and was a part of several bombing missions over Italy. When the war ended, Heller wrote Catch-22 as a way of dealing with his experiences. The novel would later be remembered as the Vietnam War began, with millions of readers identifying with the anti-government themes of the novel. It was made into a film in 1970 by Mike Nichols and featured Alan Arkin in the lead role. Heller would go on to write many other scripts, both for films and for the stage, but none left the lasting impact of his first.