[Source: NME.com] JG Ballard, the cult science fiction writer who inspired bands including Klaxons and Joy Division, died yesterday, aged 78.

The author is best known for novels including Crash and The Drowned World, and for his wartime memoir Empire Of The Sun, later made into a film directed by Steven Spielberg.

Klaxons’ debut album Myths Of The Near Future was named after a collection of short stories by Ballard, and many of their lyrics share similar themes with the writer.

The opening track of Joy Division’s second and final album Closer was named after the writer’s experimental 1969 novel The Atrocity Exhibition.

Manic Street Preachers included a spoken word sample of Ballard on The Holy Bible track “Mausoleum”, while Radiohead’s Thom Yorke is also known to be a fan.

Ballard was diagnosed with advanced prostrate cancer in June 2006 – the disease later spread to his spine and ribs.