11020 Orwell 1979, extending the body's observation arc by 5 years prior to its official discovery observation at Klet. According to the survey carried out by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, "Orwell" measures 14.466 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.089. It has an absolute magnitude of 12.6. As of 2017, "Orwell"s spectral type, as well as its rotation period and shape remain unknown. This minor planet was named for British writer Eric Blair (1903–1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, who is associated with the year of the object's discovery,
George Orwell until he had seen the situation "in situ", Orwell instead used his Independent Labour Party contacts to get a letter of introduction to John McNair in Barcelona. Orwell set out for Spain on about 23 December 1936, dining with Henry Miller in Paris on the way. The American writer told Orwell that going to fight in the Civil War out of some sense of obligation or guilt was "sheer stupidity" and that the Englishman's ideas "about combating Fascism, defending democracy, etc., etc., were all baloney." A few days later in Barcelona, Orwell met John McNair of the Independent Labour Party