Brandt studied history and literature in Cologne, London and Berlin and graduated from the German Journalism School in Munich. Amongst others his short stories have been published in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and the Süddeutsche Zeitung.
He was awarded numerous fellowships and residences such as Ledig House and Yaddo in New York. Brandt’s first novel "Against The World" was a finalist for the 2011 German Book Award and won the Nicolas-Born-First-Novel-Award. It will be published in English by Seagull Books in 2015. His second novel deals with Germans who emigrated to America.