In 2006 he participated in the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa, and in 2009 was the Writer-in-Residence at Deutsches Haus at NYU. His critically acclaimed debut novel, Bestattung eines Hundes (Funeral for a Dog), was published in 2008 by Kiepenheuer & Witsch. The English-language edition is forthcoming from W.W. Norton & Company. Pletzinger has received various literary awards and fellowships, including the 2009 Uwe-Johnson-Förderpreis. He teaches Creative Writing at the Swiss Literature Institute in Biel, Switzerland, and otherwise lives in Berlin, where he works as a freelance writer and translator at the literary studio adler & söhne.