With his wife Serpil he had a son in 1979 named Mehmet.Ītılgan died of a heart attack in 1989 while in the middle of writing a novel titled Canistan. In 1976, he began working in Istanbul as an editor and translator.

It gained further fame with a film based on the novel. This was followed in 1973 by Anayurt Oteli, which narrated the life of a hotel doorkeeper(named Zebercet) in an Anatolian town, with deep psychological examinations and touching themes such as sexuality and obsession. His novel Aylak Adam was published in 1959 which dealt with psychological themes such as loneliness, scope and possibility of love, meaning of life, seeking, and obsession. In 1946, he settled down at a village named Hacırahmanlı near Manisa where he took up writing. Atılgan then began teaching literature at Maltepe Askeri Lisesi in Akşehir. He finished his thesis titled Tokatlı Kani: Sanat, şahsiyet ve psikoloji under supervision of Nihat Tarlan. He graduated in Turkish language and literature from Istanbul University. His novels were influenced by modernism.Ītılgan finished middle school in Manisa, then high school in Balıkesir.

His novels had a psychological style, digging into themes such as loneliness, questioning, meaning of life, and the mindful journey of people. He is one of the pioneers of the modern Turkish novel.Ītılgan is considered one of the pioneers of the modern Turkish novel. Yusuf Atılgan (27 June 1921 – 9 October 1989) was a Turkish novelist and dramatist, who is best known for his novels Aylak Adam (The Loiterer) and Anayurt Oteli (Motherland Hotel).

The loiterer yusuf atılgan