Thomas Mann crowns his extensive body of novels with the story of the con artist Felix Krull. The linguistic elegance of this fictional autobiography and its ironic duality, as well as Krull's actions, demonstrate that he is "the god of thieves." A jack-of-all-trades, he is capable of handling every new and unexpected situation. No other work has occupied Thomas Mann for such a long period as the Krull novel. Started in 1910, the novel was published in 1954, thus accompanying nearly the entire literary life of the author. In the context of the comprehensive annotated Frankfurt edition, the text has been completely newly edited, taking into account all available manuscripts from the estate.