This article is about the late 20th century American novelist. For the inventor, his grandfather, see William Seward Burroughs I. For his son, see William S. Burroughs, Jr. William Seward Burroughs II ( ? ; ), more commonly known as William Burroughs or as William S. Burroughs from the late 1980s was an American novelist, philosopher, essayist, social critic, painter and spoken word performer.Much of Burroughs' work is semi-autobiographical, drawn from his experiences as an opiate addict, a condition that marked the last fifty years of his life. A primary member of the Beat Generation, he was an avant-garde author who affected popular culture as well as literature. In 1984, he was elected to the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. Early life and education Burroughs was born in 1914, the younger of two sons of a prominent family in St. Louis, Missouri. His g