John Brunner was a very prolific British author of science fiction novels and short stories. He won both the Hugo and BSFA award for his novel Stand on Zanzibar in 1968 and won the BSFA again 2 years later with The Jagged Orbit.
Most of his earlier works are in the space opera style but he later experimented with many other forms of science fiction.
A classic is something that everybody wants to have read and nobody wants to read.