Max Barry (born 18 March 1973) is an Australian author. He also maintains a blog on various topics, including politics. When he published his first novel, Syrup, he spelled his name "Maxx", but subsequently has used "Max".Barry is also the creator of NationStates, a game created to help advertise Jennifer Government that eventually evolved into its own online community. He is the owner of the website 'Tales of Corporate Oppression'. He lives in Melbourne with his wife and daughters and worked as a marketer for Hewlett-Packard before he became a novelist. NationStates is the most popular online nation simulation game created to date.In early 2004 Barry converted his web site to a blog and began regularly posting to it. In the November 2004 issue of the magazine Fast Company the novel Company was ranked at number 8 on a list of the top 100 "people, ideas, and trends that will change how we work and live in 2005." Barry wrote the screenplay for Syrup, which was released in theatres on June 7, 2013. Universal Pictures has acquired screen rights to Company, which will be adapted by Steve Pink. Jennifer Government was optioned by Steven Soderbergh and George Clooney's now defunct Section Eight Productions. His book, Machine Man, initially was an online serial, but has since been updated and published in 2011 by Vintage Books. The film rights have been picked up by Mandalay Pictures.