In Hungary, he worked as a literary critic, editorial adviser, translator (of Alejo Carpentier, Camilo José Cela, Julio Cortázar, Jorge Luis Borges, Gabriel García Márquez and Mario Vargas Llosa, among others) and an accidental movie actor, protagonist of such films as Banánhéjkeringö y A documentátor.

In Spain, he worked as a journalist collaborating with the main Spanish daily newspapers and reviews, he was the editor-in-chief of the literary review Quimera (1989-1992), and he directed the book supplement of the daily El Observador (1990-1993). He then founded and directed the monthly Lateral (1994-2006), a prominent cultural review throughout the Spanish-speaking world, serving as a platform for newer Spanish and Latin American literature. Dés compiled several theatre, poetry and short story anthologies, and was Professor of East-European Cultural History and Literature at the University of Barcelona (1995-2003). His essays and lectures have been published in collective volumes.

Budapest Baroque (2013) is his first novel.