 Klas Östergren was soon to turn twenty years old when his first novel, "Attila", was published in 1975.He gained critical acclaim and high readership five years later with the novel, "Gentlemen".As a writer of screenplays and teleplays, he was honored in 1999 when "Veranda för en tenor" ["Waiting for the Tenor"], the screen treatment (which he co-wrote with Lisa Ohlin) of a short story from "Med stövlarna på och andra berättelser", was nominated for the Guldbagge Award for Best Screenplay (Sweden's equivalent of the Academy Award).