David Lodge (1935-)
David Lodge is a British author. His books tend to be either realistic or some sort of parody. He is very knowledgeable about academia; his "trilogy" of Changing Places, Small World, and Nice Work are hilarious in their treatment of modern academic life--the convention circuit in Small World, for instance. Therapy is quite possibly his most famous/popular novel, having won several awards. A curious feature of his writing is that many a time, he will take a particular genre--the 19th century industrial novel, for instance--and write an utterly hilarious book (Nice Work) fitting its conventions exactly. These books also tend to be about the genre, so the references the characters make get even funnier. Small World is a Quest/Romance--"possesion of the Other" and all that rot--about professors discussing Quests/Romances. A reader will appreciate Lodge's humor and the writing style even if s/he is not in on his jokes.
Lodge is also a prominent literary critic.
Novels:
He's written several plays and screenplays also, such as an adaptation of Martin Chuzzlewit for television.
Thanks to http://home.freeuk.com/castlegates/lodge.htm.