Born in Glasgow in 1961, Andrew Crumey studied theoretical physics at St Andrew's University and Imperial College, getting a PhD for work on nonlinear Schrödinger equations.

A research trip to Poland inspired his first novel, Music, in a Foreign Language, set in an alternative post-Communist Britain. It won the Saltire Society First Book Of The Year Award in 1994 and was quickly followed by Pfitz (1995) and D'Alembert's Principle (1996).

Giving up physics for writing, he was literary editor of Scotland on Sunday newspaper for six years, a time that saw Mr Mee (2000) and Mobius Dick (2004) appear.

Following the success of Sputnik Caledonia (2008) he took up part-time lecturing posts in creative writing at Newcastle University and Northumbria University. He was also a visiting fellow at Durham Institute of Advanced Study.

Music has always been a major influence in his work; The Secret Knowledge (2013) is about a piano piece with that title, and The Great Chain of Unbeing (2018) has an episode featuring Beethoven. That book was shortlisted for the Saltire Fiction Book Of The Year award, and paved the way for Beethoven's Assassins (2023).