Colin Henry Wilson (1931- ) writer. He was born and brought up in Leicester. He left school at 16 and worked at a variety of jobs while reading in his spare time. As a result of his readings he published The Outsider in 1956, which described a sense of alienation. The book was very successful and was a serious contribution to the popularization of existentialism in Britain. Wilson was labelled as an Angry Young Man, though he had little in common with other members of the group.