Matt Damon portrayed Mark Watney, a botanist who is part of the Ares III team.Īndy Weir, Matt Damon, and Jessica Chastain attend the ‘The Martian’ press conference – © Guliver / Getty Images In 2015, the science fiction film The Martian, inspired by Weir’s book, was released.

Campbell Award for Best New Writer for The Martian at the 2016 Hugo Awards.

He wrote a prequel short story to The Martian, called – “Diary of an AssCan” in 2015. In March 2013, Crown Publishing, a subsidiary of Penguin Random House, acquired the book’s rights for over $100,000. ”Sharp, funny, and thrilling, with just the right amount of geekery,” Kirkus Reviews wrote about the book. It sold 35,000 copies in the first two weeks for 99 cents/copy. At some point, readers asked him to publish an e-book version on Amazon. Initially, he made ”The Martian” available via his website as a free e-book. ”I made the book a reasonable distance into the future, and I was deliberately vague on the exact dates so people couldn’t call me in 20 years and say, ”Haha, it didn’t happen!” he told Popular Mechanics.Īndy began writing the book in 2009. The story is about an astronaut, Mark Watney, who becomes stranded alone on Mars in 2035. In 2011, Andy published the science fiction novel ”The Martian.” ”The Egg” has been translated into more than 30 languages. On August 15, 2009, Weir published a short story called “The Egg” on his website Galactanet. ”I was around 9 years old when I wrote my first BASIC program on a school computer,” Andy said in an interview.įrom 2006 to 2008, he worked for a fantasy webcomic called ”Cheshire Crossing.” The Egg Weir began working as a computer programmer for Sandia National Laboratories at the age of 15. ”He got electrons going really, really fast, then hit things with them to see what they’d do,” said Weir about his dad.Īndy studied computer science at UC San Diego. His father is a particle physicist and electrical engineer. He was born on June 16, 1972, in Davis, California, USA, as Andy Taylor Weir. What is Andy Weir’s net worth? Who is Andy Weir’s wife? IntroductionĪndy Weir is an American novelist and computer programmer who is best known for his scientifically detailed novel “The Martian.” Biography

Andy weir the astronaut