He grew up in Niederbayern. He studied literature, musicology and modern history at the University of Regensburg, and at the University of Munich. From 1983 to 1985, during his studies in Regensburg, Niemann was instrumentalist and vocalist of the New Wave band Thieves of the night, for whom he also composed and wrote lyrics for the first time. Together with authors of the same age, such as Marcel Beyer and Durs Grünbein, Niemann became an associate and editor of the Literaturzeitschrift Konzepte, as well as a member of the group "Schöner Wohnen". For his novel Die Einzigen, some of the recordings of "Diebe der Nacht" were re-edited. Niemann obtained the academic degree of the Magister Artium in 1989 with a work on New Subjectivity. Since 1997, he has lived with his family as a freelance writer in Chieming am Chiemsee. Norbert Niemann is the author of numerous essays and critiques as well as the author of four time-romances. His social criticism and his poetics of changing narrative techniques are influenced, among other things, by Adornos / Horkheimer's Dialectics of Enlightenment, Gilles Deleuze and Michel Foucault. Niemann's analytical approach is classified by the criticism in the succession of Robert Musil, Joseph Roth, Thomas Mann, or Arthur Schnitzler.
Willkommen neue Träume. Carl Hanser, München 2008,.
Die Einzigen. Berlin Verlag, Berlin 2014,.
Editor
Inventur. Deutsches Lesebuch 1945–2003. München 2003, 409 Seiten.
Keine Lust auf Untergang. Gegen eine Trivialisierung der Gesellschaft. Langen Müller, München 2010, 192 Seiten.
Stories
"Sankt Martin. Eine Geschichte vom Sterben, Erzählung," in: Verena Auffermann : Beste Deutsche Erzähler 2002, Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart, München 2002, Seiten 14–41.
"Nächtliche Touren im Labyrinth der Altstadt. Ein Wiedersehen mit Regensburg nach zwanzig Jahren," in: Konrad Maria Färber : Regensburg – Das Gedächtnis Europas, Regensburger Almanach 2008, MZ Buchverlag, Regensburg 2008, Seiten 93–96.
Kleine Transporter. Texte und Zeichnungen, Bamberg, Edition Villa Concordia 2010, 106 Seiten
"Burghausen Tag und Nacht. Schreiben mit der Klasse 8a der Hauptschule an der Ichostraße" in München, Kurzroman in: Franziska Sperr : Klasse Geschichten. Schüler und Autoren entwickeln gemeinsam eine Geschichte, Bund-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2012, Seiten 107–134.