Novels, such as Time of Desecration (1978), of Italian writer Alberto Moravia, pen name of Alberto Pincherle, explore the alienation and ennui of the middle class.

Alberto Moravia, pseudonimo di Alberto Pincherle (1907 – 1990), è stato uno scrittore, giornalista, sceneggiatore, saggista, drammaturgo, poeta, reporter di viaggio, critico cinematografico e politico italiano.
Considerato uno dei più importanti romanzieri del XX secolo, ha esplorato nelle sue opere i temi della sessualità, dell'alienazione sociale e dell'esistenzialismo.

Alberto Moravia, born Alberto Pincherle, was one of the leading Italian novelists of the twentieth century whose novels explore matters of modern sexuality, social alienation, and existentialism. He was also a journalist, playwright, essayist and film critic.

Moravia was an atheist, his writing was marked by its factual, cold, precise style, often depicting the malaise of the bourgeoisie, underpinned by high social and cultural awareness. Moravia believed that writers must, if they were to represent reality, assume a moral position, a clearly conceived political, social, and philosophical attitude, but also that, ultimately, "A writer survives in spite of his beliefs".

Between 1959 and 1962 Moravia was president of PEN International, the worldwide association of writers.