Andrew O'Hagan was born in Glasgow. He is the author of The Missing, which was shortlisted for the Esquire Award, the Saltire First Book Award, and the McVities prize for the Scottish Writer of the Year. His debut novel, Our Fathers, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, the Whitbread First Novel Award, and the IMPAC Dublin International Literary Prize. His second novel, Personality, was published in April 2003. Be Near Me was published in September 2006 and is longlisted for the 2006 Man Booker Prize.