We show theoretically that the muon lifetime can be changed dramatically by embedding the decaying muon in a strong linearly polarized laser field. Evaluating the S-matrix elements taking all electronic multiphoton processes into account we find that a CO(2) laser with an electric field amplitude of 10(6) V cm(-1) results in an order of magnitude shorter lifetime of the muon. We also analyze the dependencies of the decay rate on the laser frequency and intensity.