Kavan traveled extensively during the Second World War , spending 22 months in New Zealand . That country 's proximity to Antarctica informed her writing of ` Ice ' - the post-apocalyptic novel which won her the Brian Aldiss Science Fiction Book of the Year award in 1967 . This post-apocalyptic novel brought critical acclaim , earning Kavan the Brian Aldiss Science Fiction Book of the Year award in 1967 , the year before Kavan 's death .