Sunday, June 7, 2026

The story behind our 100 best novels list

Graham Greene’s devastating 1951 novel The End of the Affair makes it in. Photograph: Harold Chapman/TopFoto

Who’s in, who’s out, and how many have you read? The story behind our 100 best novels list

Jane Eyre or Wuthering Heights; Ulysses or Catch-22 … Find out which title came top, as chosen by authors, critics and academics worldwide

See the full list

As Stephen King points out, compiling a list of the greatest novels of all time is an impossible task. King is one of more than 170 novelists, critics and academics the Guardian polled for their top 10, ranked in order, which we tallied to compile an overall 100. But, as he argued, 10 books is “not enough!” On King’s list there is, he’s sorry to say, “not a single Dickens”; he wishes he’d found space for David Copperfield or Oliver Twist.

Illustration of books falling from above — Illustration: Lisa Sheehan/The Guardian

The greatest literature ever published in English, as voted for by authors, critics and academics worldwide

The story behind our 100 best novels list

00 The Road
99 Catch-22
98 Pedro Páramo
To 97 The Return of the Native
96 The Known World
95 Invisible Cities
94 Sentimental Education
93 Life and Fate
92 Jacob's Room
91 The Left Hand of Darkness
90 Ragtime
89 The Line of Beauty
88 The Turn of the Screw
87 The Vegetarian
86 The Talented Mr Ripley
85 A Farewell to Arms
84 The End of the Affair
83 Buddenbrooks
82 Rebecca
81 Go Tell It on the Mountain
80 A House for Mr Biswas
79 The Rainbow
78 My Ántonia
77 Dracula
76 The Bluest Eye
75 Nervous Conditions
74 Austerlitz
73 Our Mutual Friend
72 Kindred
71 The Outsider
70 Jude the Obscure
69 Crime and Punishment
68 Blood Meridian
67 The Man Without Qualities
66 The Master and Margarita
65 The Color Purple
64 The Good Soldier
63 White Teeth
62 Half of a Yellow Sun
61 The Rings of Saturn
60 Howards End
59 Never Let Me Go
58 Disgrace
57 The Sound and the Fury
56 Mansfield Park
55 The Waves
54 Orlando
53 The Transit of Venus
52 The Golden Bowl
51 My Brilliant Friend
50 Wide Sargasso Sea
49 A Fine Balance
48 The Metamorphosis
47 Vanity Fair
46 The Leopard
45 The Golden Notebook
44 Giovanni's Room
43 Housekeeping
42 The Magic Mountain
41 Heart of Darkness
40 Song of Solomon
39 Their Eyes Were Watching God
38 The Age of Innocence
37 Invisible Man
36 The Handmaid's Tale
35 Great Expectations
34 Wolf Hall
33 David Copperfield
32 The God of Small Things
31 The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
30 Frankenstein
29 Pale Fire
28 The Brothers Karamazov

27 The Trial
26 Don Quixote
25 Lolita
24 The Remains of the Day
23 Midnight's Children
22 Things Fall Apart
21 The Portrait of a Lady
20 Wuthering Heights
19 The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman
18 Persuasion
17 One Hundred Years of Solitude
16 Nineteen Eighty-Four
15 Moby-Dick
14 Mrs Dalloway
13 Emma
12 Bleak House
11 The Great Gatsby
10 Madame Bovary
9 Pride and Prejudice
8 Jane Eyre
7 War and Peace
6 Anna Karenina
5 In Search of Lost Time
4 To the Lighthouse
3 Ulysses
2 Beloved
1 Middlemarch

Credits

Editorial Charlotte Northedge, Liese Spencer,Justine Jordan, David Shariatmadari, Ella Creamer,Emma Loffhagen, Lisa Allardice

Production Julia Longley, Nick Shave, Grainne Mooney,Katie Shimmon

Pictures Kate Edwards, Caroline Hunter, Louis Siroy,Sadie Gould

Design & development Barry Ainslie, Fred O’Brien, Pip Lev,Sara Ramsbottom, Rich Cousins, Maggie Murphy,Alessia Amitrano, Harry Fischer, Ellen Wishart, Tara Herman

Data & development Tom Richards, Seán Clarke,Luke Hoyland

This list was amended on 27 May 2026. A data processing error meant The Outsider by Albert Camus was omitted from an earlier version and enters at 71 and My Ántonia should have been at 78, not 100. The Go-Between is no longer on the list.

THE GUARDIAN