SELLINGS, Arthur

   Pseudonym of UK writer and bookseller Robert Arthur Ley (1921-1968), who began publishing sf stories with "The Haunting" for Authentic in 1953; the best of his output of about30 tales was assembled in Time Transfer (coll 1956; with 5 stories cut 1966) and The Long Eureka (coll 1968). In the1960s his productivity increased; he died (suddenly, of a heart attack) just as he was gaining more and more notice. His first novel, Telepath (1962 US; vt The Silent Speakers 1963 UK), is typical of all his best workin the complexity of its protagonist (who must deal with his discovery of his own limited ESP ability), the careful realization of venue, and a sense that, although it may be intrusive, the unknown must be faced and lived with. Later novels, quite variously expressing this quiet but competent point of view, include: The Uncensored Man (1964), whose protagonist is transferred via drugs into another DIMENSION where he develops previously masked PSI POWERS and meets dubiously superior forms of life (SUPERMAN); The Quy Effect (1966), in which a man faces the consequences attendant upon his invention of ANTIGRAVITY while at the same time falling in love; Intermind (1967 US as Ray Luther; 1969 UK as AS), in which a secret agent is injected with another person's memory to pursue a complex case; and The Power of X (1968), which sets an art dealer - perhaps a self-portrayal-into a world where material objects can be perfectly duplicated, calling into question the nature of the authentic work of art. AS's finest novel was his last. Junk Day (1970), a post- HOLOCAUST tale set in the ruins of his native London and peopled withengrossing character types, is perhaps grimmer than his previous work but pointedly more energetic.

   JC

   See also: ESP; GENERATION STARSHIPS; PERCEPTION.