Bohumil Hrabal (1914-1997), born as Bohumil František Kilian, was the most translated Czech author of the 20th century.
A lot of his work contains autobiographic elements, for example the novel Ostře sledované vlaky (Closely Watched Trains) was largely inspired by Hrabal’s own experience as a young train-dispatcher at the end of the World War II. 
As a true Czech, beer held a great significance in his life. His mother and step father met while working in Breweery Polná (setting of Hrabal’s novel Postřižiny). Hrabal himself was a great raconteur, much of his story-telling taking place in his favourite pub, U zlatého tygra (At the Golden Tiger). Majority of his books actually don’t have a coherent storyline but just a stream of more or less connected stories, accompanied by Hrabal’s peculiar humour, colloquial language, grotesque scenes and he doesn’t even shy from occasional erotica. According to his wishes, he was buried in oak coffin with inscription “PIVOVAR POLNÁ”. 

Some of his books are available on iTunes.

Closely Watched Trains (1966)

(Czech: Ostře sledované vlaky) is a Czechoslovak film directed by Jiří Menzel, and one of the best-known products of the Czechoslovak New Wave. It is a coming-of-age story about a young man working at a train station in German-occupied Czechoslovakia during World War II. The film is based on a 1965 novel by Bohumil Hrabal and won the Best Foreign Language Oscar at the 40th Academy Awards in 1968. ► ►

Opening scene – Closely Watched Trains (English subtitles)

The drama-comedy film is based on a story by Bohumil Hrabal.  It is a coming-of-age story about a boy working at a train station in German-occupied Czechoslovakia during World War II. In 1968 the film won the Best Foreign Language Oscar at the 40th Academy Awards in 1968.

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)