Yusuf Atılgan (27 June 1921, Manisa - 9 October 1989, Istanbul) was a Turkish novelist and dramatist, best known for his novels Aylak Adam (The Flâneur) and Anayurt Oteli (Motherland Hotel). A pioneer of the modern Turkish novel, Atılgan's work, in dealing with the existential crises of human beings, probes the depths of human psychology. After graduating from Istanbul University's Turkish Language and Literature Department, he moved back to the town of Manisa, where he took up writing. His novel Aylak Adam was published in 1959, followed in 1973 by Anayurt Oteli, which gained further fame when a film based on the novel was made in 1986. In 1976, he began working in Istanbul as an editor and translator. With his wife Serpil he had a son in 1979 named Mehmet. Atılgan died of a heart attack in 1989 while in the middle of writing a novel titled Canistan, later published in incomplete form. Atılgan is also the author of popular children’s book and a collection of short stories.