Of course the characters aren't literally him.
But I would argue a little against a statement like "Ballard didn't get turned on by car crashes" as he seems to suggest he did a little in his real autobiography (as opposed to the two fictional ones).
The way he talks about his wife and the reaction to her death in his works also shows up in many instances in female characters.
So, the reason I though you were trolling is that I never typed anything suggesting all his works were based literally on his life and it would be stupid to suggest that Ballard's fictional work doesn't contain a heck of a lot of characters and situations which are reminiscent of his no-fictional one. That being said I though you were suggesting either he was a poor writer who only wrote about himself or I was a naive reader seeing him in his characters -- making you either a troll or somebody who hasn't read much of his canon.

Edit: Ballard actually does literally seem to confuse his real life and characters with Empire Of The Sun -- where his real and fictional accounts mix (or, at least, my recollection of his autobiography is even he isn't sure which parts are real and which not at times).
(Me, I'm not... in any way intoxicated, Tue 11 Jun 2013, 18:19, 1 reply)

I think we got off on the wrong foot.
Re. Ballard, I prefer his short fiction to his novels, and his experimental work from the seventies rather than his realist phase from the 80s until his death, my favourite of his novels being The Atrocity Exhibition and short story wise, probably Memories of the Space Age.

Where I think he lost momentum was around the turn of the century; while Cocaine Nights and Super Cannes are competent enough novels, he'd become a bit formulaic.

It doesn't detract from his ability as a writer or even his ability to deal thematically with his subjects
(dozers, do fuck off ur a nob m8, Tue 11 Jun 2013, 18:52, closed)

I think we did get off on the wrong foot then.
I did forget that in the elements trilogy doesn't have any of his typical tropes either.
(Me, I'm not... in any way intoxicated, Tue 11 Jun 2013, 19:59, closed)