2013 Reprint of 1946 Edition. Exact facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. With Illustrations by Leslie Sherman. The "Metamorphosis" is a novella by Franz Kafka, first published in 1915. It is often cited as one of the seminal works of fiction of the 20th century and is widely studied in colleges and universities across the Western world. The story begins with a traveling salesman, Gregor Samsa, waking to find himself transformed into a monstrous vermin. It is never explained in the story why Samsa transforms, nor did Kafka ever give an explanation.