Born in the Swiss city of Geneva and after finishing his law studies, Robert Pinget works as a lawyer in Geneva for a year. He leaves Switzerland in 1946 to move to Paris, where he will dedicate himself to the Fine Arts. He published his first work, a collection of short stories, Entre Fantoine and Agapa in 1951. In 1952, he published his first novel, Mahu or the material. This was followed by The Fox and the Compass, in 1953, thanks to the support of Albert Camus, Alain Robbe-Grillet and especially Samuel Beckett, who was always a great friend of Pinget. Graal Flibuste is published in the Minuit publishing house in 1956, after being rejected by Raymond Queneau in Gallimard. The fact that he publishes in this Minuit editorial, which will be that of Pinget in the future, has contributed to his inclusion at times within the Nouveau roman current. In 1960, he adopted French nationality and settled in 1964 in the Touraine region, at home he wrote all his works. He dies in Tours.