A. S. Panchapakesa Ayyar (1899–1963) was an Indian novelist, dramatist, short story writer and justice. He was elected as a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, London in 1933.

A. S. P. Ayyar was born on 26 January 1899 at Ayilam, a village near Palghat in Kerala state to a landlord father.^[1][2] He initially studied at Trivandrum and Madras, and moved to England in 1919 to study at Oxford University, and became a lawyer.^[1] In 1933, he was elected as a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, London. He was appointed the justice of the Madras High Court during 1948–59.^[1]

He married Vedanayaki Ammal in 1919.^[3] They had a son, A. P. Venkateswaran (1930–2014), who was a diplomat.^[4]

Ayyar had published about 27 works which include novels, plays, short stories, literary criticism, religious works, jurisprudence, travelogue, biography and an autobiography. He had translated several Sanskrit works into English.^[1]

Ayyar wrote his novels in late 1940s and in early 1950s. His novels have historical settings. His first novel A Historical Romance of Ancient India (1930) tells a story of a Gupta king who resisted the Hun invaders during the 6th-century. His novel Three Men of Destiny (1039) is a story of Alexander the Great, with two other main characters: Chandragupta Maurya and Chanakya.^[1]

He wrote his autobiography under the title Twenty Five Years a Civilian (1962).^[1]