Pilot Pirx is a fictional character introduced in 1966 in the science fiction stories of Polish writer Stanisław Lem: ten short stories (published in English in two parts, 1979's Tales of Pirx the Pilot and 1982's More Tales of Pirx the Pilot). Later he appeared in the novel Fiasco.
In the stories, Pirx is progressively depicted as a spaceship cadet, simply Pirx (which hurts his feelings because he had already become pilot and he'd rather be addressed as "pilot Pirx"), beginner pilot, a seasoned pilot, navigator, and finally, captain (komandor).[1]
In 7 of the 10 stories Pirx acts in the role of Sherlock Holmes, to investigate mysterious events.[2]
The last appearance of Pirx is in the first half of Lem's later novel Fiasco. The identity of the protagonist in the second half is never firmly established, but Pirx is one of the two possibilities. The bulk of the novel is set much further in the future, and it is vastly different from Lem's previous works.[3]