Question: Call a spade a spade has been used in literary works by what British playwright, novelist, and short story writer who was reportedly the highest-paid author during the 1930s?

Context articles: Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Call a spade a spade
John Emil Augustine
Elling M. Solheim
Lydia Davis
Suman Shah
C. V. Balakrishnan
Marie Colban
Agatha Christie bibliography
W. Somerset Maugham

Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky ( ; Russian: Фёдор Миха́йлович Достое́вский ; ] ; 11 November 1821 – 9 February 1881), sometimes transliterated Dostoevsky, was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist, journalist and philosopher.
 Dostoyevsky's literary works explore human psychology in the troubled political, social, and spiritual atmospheres of 19th-century Russia, and engage with a variety of realistic philosophical and religious themes.
To "call a spade a spade" is a figurative expression which refers to calling something "as it is", that is, by its right or proper name, without "beating about the bush"—being outspoken about it, truthfully, frankly, and directly, even to the point of being blunt or rude, and even if the subject is considered coarse, impolite, or unpleasant.
 The idiom originates in the classical Greek of Plutarch's "Apophthegmata Laconica," and was introduced into the English language in 1542 in Nicolas Udall's translation of the "Apophthegmes," where Erasmus had seemingly replaced Plutarch's images of "trough" and "fig" with the more familiar "spade."
 The idiom has appeared in many literary and popular works, including those of Oscar Wilde, Charles Dickens, W. Somerset Maugham, and Jonathan Swift.
John Emil Augustine (born March 12, 1975) is an American novelist, short story writer, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, mental health advocate, and teacher.
 Augustine’s literary works are best known for their emphasis on the author’s own spousal abuse at the hands of a mentally unstable wife and the effects of that abuse on subsequent relationships.
 Less than a year after its release, his first novel, "From the Abyss" (2013), was recognized as one of the "50 Self-Published Books Worth Reading" by Indie Author Land, 2013/14.
 His musical career spans four decades (1987–present); however, little information has been released by Augustine himself regarding his career in music.
 His participation in the Minneapolis music scene is alluded to in his memoir-oriented novels as well as in subsequent interviews.
Elling M. Solheim (17 January 1905 – 5 January 1971) was a Norwegian poet, playwright and short story writer.
 He was born in Norderhov.
 His first literary work, "Preludium" from 1925, was not published due to bankruptcy of the publishing house.
 His first published poetry collection was "Jeg lever idag" from 1934.
 From the late 1930s he suffered from multiple sclerosis, but continued writing poetry and other literary works.
 He died in Ringerike in 1971.
 A bronze bust of Solheim, sculptured by Ståle Kyllingstad, is located at the Ringerike public library.
Lydia Davis (born July 15, 1947) is an American writer noted for literary works of extreme brevity (commonly called "flash fiction").
 Davis is also a short story writer, novelist, essayist, and translator from French and other languages, and has produced several new translations of French literary classics, including "Swann’s Way" by Marcel Proust and "Madame Bovary" by Gustave Flaubert.
Suman Shah (Gujarati:સુમન શાહ) is a Gujarati language critic, short story writer, novelist, essayist, editor and translator from Gujarat, India.
 Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi awarded him the Sahitya Akademi Award of 2008 for his short story collection "Fatfatiyun".
 He wrote both in the modern and in the postmodern eras in Gujarati literature.
 He authored more than 74 books including 2 novels, 6 short story collections, 4 collections of creative essays, 6 translation into Gujarati from English and Hindi, 22 books on literary criticism and around 23 edited works for literary theory, modern Gujarati Short Stories and poems.
 He was honorary editor of "Shabdasrishti", published by Gujarat Sahitya Akademi, Gandhinagar from 1983-1986.
 He was an editor of "Khevna", a literary journal, from 1987 to 2009, published by Parshva Publication, Ahmedabad.
C. V. Balakrishnan (Malayalam: സി.
 വി.
 ബാലകൃഷ്ണൻ ; born 24 September 1952) is a Malayalam-language novelist, short story writer, essayist and screenplay writer from the south Indian state of Kerala.
 His novels and short stories encompass the emotional issues related to mass culture, sexual politics, fate of the marginalised and institutionalised religions.
 An author of more than 40 literary works along with a few film scripts and film criticisms, his best known work is the novel "Ayussinte Pusthakam" ("Book of Life").
 He received the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award in 2000 for the novel "Atmavinu Seriyennu Thonnunna Karyangal" and the Kerala State Film Award for Best Book on Cinema in 2002 for "Cinemayude Idangal".
 In 2014, he won the Padmaprabha Literary Award
Marie Colban (18 December 1814 – 27 March 1884) was a Norwegian novelist, short story writer and translator.
 She was married to teacher Nathanael Angell Colban (1793–1850) from 1836.
 She translated Eugène Sue's novel "Mathilde" and other literary works from French into Norwegian language.
 From 1856 she lived in Paris, and also wrote for Norwegian newspapers.
 Her first literary work was "Lærerinden, en Skizze" from 1869.
 From 1882 to 1884 she published a series of memoir articles from her Paris years in the magazine "Nyt Tidsskrift".
 She died in Rome in 1884.
Agatha Christie (1890–1976) was an English crime novelist, short story writer and playwright.
 Although she wrote six romance novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott, her reputation rests on the 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections that she wrote under her own name, which have sold over two billion copies—an amount only surpassed by the Bible and the works of William Shakespeare.
 Her works contain several regular characters with whom the public became familiar, including Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple, Tommy and Tuppence Beresford, Parker Pyne and Harley Quin.
 Christie wrote more Poirot stories than any of the others, even though she thought the character to be "rather insufferable".
 Following the publication of the 1975 novel "Curtain", Poirot's obituary appeared on the front page of "The New York Times".
 The literary historian Howard Haycraft considered that "few fictional sleuths can surpass the amazing little Belgian—with his waxed moustache and egg-shaped head, his inflated confidence in the infallibility of his 'little grey cells', his murderous attacks on the English language—either for individuality or ingenuity."
William Somerset Maugham CH ( ; 25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965), better known as W. Somerset Maugham, was a British playwright, novelist and short story writer.
 He was among the most popular writers of his era and reputedly the highest-paid author during the 1930s.