Writer Jack Kerouac was an American novelist and poet who is best known for his novel On the Road. He was a major figure of the Beat Generation, a group of writers and artists who rejected conventional values and embraced creativity and experimentation. Kerouac's writing style was characterized by spontaneous prose and stream-of-consciousness narrative. He wrote several novels, including The Dharma Bums and Big Sur, as well as poetry and non-fiction works.