The Collected Works include the most important novellas and short stories of Franz Kafka. Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 - 3 June 1924) was a German-speaking Bohemian Jewish novelist and short-story writer, widely regarded as one of the major figures of 20th-century literature. His work, which fuses elements of realism and the fantastic, typically features isolated protagonists facing bizarre or surrealistic predicaments and incomprehensible socio-bureaucratic powers, and has been interpreted as exploring themes of alienation, existential anxiety, guilt, and absurdity. His best known works include Die Verwandlung (The Metamorphosis), Der Process (The Trial), and Das Schloss (The Castle). The term Kafkaesque has entered the English language to describe situations like those found in his writing. Included in this collection: 1. The Metamorphosis (1915) 2. A Report for an Academy (1917) 3. Up in the Gallery (1919) 4. Before the Law (1919) 5. In the Penal Colony (1919) 6. A Hunger Artist (1922)