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Jack Williamson, a distinguished writer of science fiction who was born in an adobe hut in the Arizona Territory and grew up to write of robots, genetic engineering and the colonization of distant planets, died on Friday at his home in Portales, N.M. He was 98.

The death was announced by Eastern New Mexico University in Portales, where Mr. Williamson was emeritus professor of English.

Mr. Williamson’s work — more than 50 novels and countless short stories — spanned most of the 20th century and extended into the 21st. He began his career in 1928, at 20, when the pulp magazine Amazing Stories published his first piece of short fiction, “The Metal Man.” (Isaac Asimov was then 8 years old.) His most recent novel, “The Stonehenge Gate” (Tor Books), was issued last year.

In 1985, Mr. Williamson received a Hugo Award for his memoir, “Wonder’s Child: My Life in Science Fiction” (Bluejay Books, 1984). His 2001 novella “The Ultimate Earth” won a Hugo, given by the World Science Fiction Society, and a Nebula Award, given by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.

Mr. Williamson’s best-known novel is “The Humanoids” (Simon & Schuster, 1949), which explores themes central to all his work: the evolving relationship between man and machine and, ultimately, what it means to be human. The book is a reworking of one of his earlier novellas, “With Folded Hands.”

In the novel, a race of small, efficient and remarkably attentive humanoids is dedicated to making humans happy in every possible way. The result is a Puritan dystopia, as Mr. Williamson explained in a talk at the World Science Fiction Convention in 1977: “Alert to the potential harm in nearly every human activity, they don’t let people drive cars, ride bicycles, smoke, drink or engage in unsupervised sex,” he said. “Doing everything for everybody, they forbid all free action. Their world becomes a luxurious but nightmarish prison of total frustration.”

Mr. Williamson’s other novels include “Darker Than You Think” (Fantasy Press, 1948) ; “Star Bridge” (Gnome Press, 1955); “Manseed” (Ballantine, 1982); and “Lifeburst” (Ballantine, 1984).

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In 1976, Mr. Williamson was named a Grand Master by the Science Fiction Writers of America, only the second author, after Robert A. Heinlein, to be so honored.

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