Being Dead (novel)

infobox Book |
name = Being Dead
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption = Penguin Books edition
author = Jim Crace
illustrator =
cover_artist = Simon Weller
country = United Kingdom
language = English
series =
genre = Novel
publisher = Viking Press
release_date = 1999
english_release_date =
media_type = Print (Hardback & Paperback)
pages =
isbn = ISBN 0140239758
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"Being Dead" is a novel by the English writer Jim Crace, published in 1999.

Its principal characters are married zoologists Joseph and Celice and their daughter Syl. The story tells of how Joseph and Celice, on a day trip to the dunes where they met as students, are murdered by an opportunistic thief. Their bodies lie undiscovered for several days, during the course of which their estranged daughter is made aware of their disappearance and, eventually, discovery. The novel dwells heavily on the themes of bodily decomposition and filial bereavement. It was highly praised upon publication and won the 2000 National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction. The "New York Times" selected it as an Editor's Choice of the Year.