In the 1940s Mykle was active as journalist and writer in the Norwegian
labour movement. He wrote scripts for their election campaign films and plays for amateur theatre groups associated with the labour movement. Mykle debuted as an author in 1948 with
Taustigen, a collection of short stories. Other short story collections included
Jeg er like glad, sa gutten (1952),
Kors på halsen (1958) and
Largo (1967). His novel
Tyven, tyven skal du hete (published in English as
The Hotel Room) was written in (1951). His two subsequent novels,
Lasso rundt fru Luna (published in English as
Lasso Around The Moon) (1954) and
Sangen om den røde rubin (
The Song of the Red Ruby) (1956) have strong autobiographical tendencies. His last published novel was
Rubicon (1965), originally thought of as a sequel to the previous two, finishing the tale about Ash Burlefoot. Three collections of his non-fiction writing were published post-humously in 1997 and 1998,
Mannen fra Atlantis,
En flodhest på parnasset and
Alter og disk.
Red Ruby controversy The publication of
The Song of the Red Ruby in 1957 ignited what became one of the most famous court cases in Norwegian history. Mykle and his publisher
Harald Grieg were accused of writing and publishing immoral and
obscene material. Mykle's defense attorney was
Johan Bernhard Hjort. Mykle and Grieg were both acquitted, but the remaining copies of the book were ordered withdrawn from the market. The Norwegian Supreme Court overturned the ruling on the confiscation in 1958. The court case and the pressure caused by the media attention changed Mykle for the rest of his life, and he became a recluse. No photographs were published of him after 1957 and he chose to associate almost exclusively with friends and family. In the autumn of 1993, however, Mykle had a series of conversations with Nils Kåre Jacobsen, an employee at Mykle's publishing house,
Gyldendal. These talks were later turned into the book
Mine bøker er musikk: møter med Agnar Mykle ( -
My books are music: meetings with Agnar Mykle)
Financial difficulties The translations of
The Song of the Red Ruby gathered tremendous attention outside of Norway, especially in the United States. Huge sales followed, but Mykle nevertheless had financial difficulties for the rest of his life. His letter exchanges with the Norwegian inland revenue were published in the Norwegian newspaper
Dagbladet, and they were as eloquently written as most of his literature output. ==Other interests==