Max Frisch's father was an architect who passed away, prompting Frisch to abandon his German studies at the Technical University of Zurich. He then worked as a freelance journalist and published his first novel, "Jürg Reinhart", in 1934, which showcased his literary talent.
Frisch continued his literary endeavors while studying architecture at the Technical University of Zurich, publishing the novel "Answer from Silence" in 1937. He served in the military on an irregular basis from 1939 to 1945, graduating from university in 1941 and working in an architectural office in Zurich.
Frisch married Constanze Meyerburg in 1942 and opened his own architectural office, which he ran until 1955. He also continued writing, publishing "Diary 1946-1949" in 1950, which documented his impressions of war-torn Europe.
Frisch's breakthrough in international literature came in 1954 with the novel "Stiller", which explored the problem of social identity pressures. He went on to write successful plays, including "The Wall of China" and "Andorra", and published novels like "Don Juan: Or, The Love of Geometry" and "Biedermann and the Arsonists: A Didactic Play without a Doctrine, with an Aftermath".
Frisch received the Georg Büchner Prize in 1958 and published his second masterpiece, "Homo Faber: A Report", in 1957. The novel addressed the tragic implications of blind trust in technology and rationality on interpersonal relationships.
Frisch lived in Rome from 1960 to 1965 with the Austrian writer Ingeborg Bachmann and married Marianne Oellers in 1968, but the marriage ended in divorce. He published the bestseller "My Name is Gantenbein" in 1965 and "Diary 1966-1971" in 1972.
Frisch received the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade in 1976 and published novels like "Montauk" and "Man Appears in the Holocene". He lived with Alice Locke-Carey in New York from 1980 and published his novel "Bluebeard" in 1982.
Frisch became involved in public debate in 1989 through a pamphlet and lectures, leading up to the 50th anniversary of the mobilization and the referendum on the abolition of the army in Switzerland.
