Ludvík Vaculík's novel Guinea Pigs is one of the most profound and most successful novels of the 1970s in Czechoslovakia. Published first in the underground Edice Petlice in 1973 (Morčata), later in Toronto by 68 Publishers in 1977, the English translation appeared in New York by the Third Press in 1973. The novel was written in 1970 and in 1976 it won the George Orwell Prize, awarded by Penguin Books to the best literary work commenting on social issues.