According to Vonnegut (in a 1987 interview with Hank Nuwer) Trout was inspired by Theodore Sturgeon, another science fiction writer; however there can be no doubt that the character is based at least in part on Vonnegut's own self-opinions; he says as much in his introduction to Timequake (see Kilgore Trout as Kurt Vonnegut's Literary Alter Ego).