Douglas Adams

Don't panic — and do remember your towel. Douglas Adams was the brilliantly funny British author whose The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series transformed science fiction with its razor-sharp wit, absurdist humour, and surprisingly profound observations about life, the universe, and everything. Beginning as a BBC radio comedy before becoming a beloved series of novels, Adams' work — including The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, Life, the Universe and Everything, and Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency — remains as hilarious and thought-provoking as ever. The answer, of course, is 42.