William Burroughs - in pictures

William Burroughs and Jack Kerouac in New York, 1953 Photograph: Allen Ginsberg/Corbis

Burroughs sitting at a table with typewriter, 1959 Photograph: Loomis Dean/Getty Image

Peter Orlovsky and Jack Kerouac pose in their shorts, while Burroughs takes a nap fully clothed on a beach in Tangier, Morocco, c1957 Photograph: Allen Ginsberg/Corbis

Burroughs in the Beat Hotel, Paris, 1959 Photograph: Loomis Dean/Getty Images

Burroughs in Paris, c1964 Photograph: Getty Images

Burroughs in 1965 Photograph: Evening Standard/Getty Images

Burroughs' apartment in a converted YMCA building, which he called The Bunker, on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, 1977 Photograph: Caterine Milinaire/Corbis

Burroughs with Dennis Hopper, February 1977 Photograph: Caterine Milinaire/ Caterine Milinaire/Sygma/Corbis

Allen Ginsberg and Burroughs (smoking) sit with French writer Jean Genet in the audience of the Democratic National Convention, Chicago, Illinois Photograph: Hulton/Getty Images

Burroughs and Joe Strummer of The Clash in The Bunker, 1980 Photograph: Victor Bockris/Corbis

Allen Ginsberg (1926 - 1997), Gregory Corso (1930 - 2001), and William Burroughs (1914 - 1997) in Boulder, Colorado, 1994 Photograph: Chris Felver/Getty Images

Burroughs in Chicago, 1981 Photograph: Paul Natkin/WireImage

Burroughs celebrates his 70th birthday at the Limelight dance club in New York Photograph: Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

Burroughs with Sting and Andy Summers of the Police at his birthday party in the Limelight club, New York Photograph: Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

Burroughs with a knife in his New York apartment, The Bunker Photograph: Victor Bockris/Corbis

Burroughs on the set of The Naked Lunch, directed by David Cronenberg Photograph: Jean-Louis Atlan/Corbis

Burroughs during the 1990s Photograph: William Coupon/Corbis