The following bio-sketch has been written by Calvert himself in 1981 - probably for the publication of his first novel HYPE.

Robert Calvert was born in Pretoria South Africa in 1945 and educated in England. He studied structural engeneering for two years before it occured to him that by the time he reached his thirties he would be earning his living as a writer. This was not an ambition - it was more of a presentiment.

He entered a wide variety of employment in the spirit of an intelligence agent gathering material for the future. This ranged from The Signals Corps of The British Army to the Cleansing Department of Croydon Borough Council. A stretch of teaching English to foreign students taught him more about the language than he had realized there was to learn.

In the late sixties and early seventies he became involved with the "London Underground Movement", engaging in journalism and Arts Lab activities. He went on to collaborate with the rock band Hawkwind to create what he describes as "high-technology-thriller-rock". One example of this, Silver Machine, became a million-selling hit single. It was immediately followed up by Urban Guerilla which was banned by the BBC and withdrawn from the market. It was followed, however, by a continuing catalogue of successful albums.

Apart from his considerable output as a lyricist and performer with Hawkwind, he has also collaborated with other musicians and produced two solo albums: Captain Lockheed and the Starfighters; and Lucky Leif and the Longships. A book of his poems, Centigrade 232, was published by Quasar boks; and a play, The Stars that Play with Laughing Sam's Dice, was staged by Pentameters Theatre Company.

He has recently given up touring as a rock performer to concentrate on writing full time. He lives in the West End of London with his wife, the novelist Pamela Calvert, and their grey tomcat "Mule". His hobbies include computing and military history. Hype is his first novel.