The thesis studies the novel Tutunamayanlar by the Turkish writer Oğuz Atay. The primary goal of the thesis is to describe Atay’s use of language from a sociolinguistic point of view, and the secondary goal is to examine the features of Atay’s literary style. First, a definition of sociolinguistics is given, and an insight into its general aspects is provided. Then, from a sociolinguistic perspective, the question of Atatürk’s linguistic and social reforms is addressed. The analysis of reforms is accompanied by an analysis of the novel itself; it is an analysis of Atay’s language and his literary style. The language in the novel is analysed from the standpoint of the sociolinguistics of multilingualism and ethnographic-interactional sociolinguistics. The research has shown that Atay’s use of language in the novel is influenced by his characters’ environment, education, and other sociological factors. The analysis has also shown several examples of language assimilation. Furthermore, the research has shown that lexical variations in Atay’s novel are conditioned by the type of discourse, the communicative goal, and the assumed audience. Atay’s use of Ottoman words is conditioned by institutional and non-institutional linguistic prescriptivism and proscriptivism. The thesis has also explored the role of encyclopedic and poetic discourse in the novel. They are Atay’s means of judging the phenomena that shape the traditional and modern Turkish society. The study of Atay’s literary style has confirmed the conclusions reached by the sociolinguistic analysis. The research shows how Atay addresses sociological issues through postmodernist narrative practices such as fragmentation, collage, and intertextuality.