But for sheer size, few lists come bigger than this mutha. The publishing industry midwifed the first top 100 books ever-type lists into the world to mark the turn of the millennium. Not to be outdone, the BBC in their worthy (and actually, very worthwhile) book campaign, the Big Read compiled another top 100 of best-loved books on the back of a mammoth poll. It was shamelessly populist too - Harry Potter was listed five times and the likes of Terry Pratchett, Jean M Auel and Rosamund Pilcher all made the grade. It was enough to put a literary snob's nose out of joint. They hit back in 05 and 06 with two editions of the gargantuan 1,001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. Despite the odd dodgy entry and omission in this new canon (Ardal O'Hanlon anyone?) it is a book bore's dream. All titles were selected by "experts", and presumably were judged solely by literary value.
Three years on it's now The Graun's turn. Their 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read strikes a balance between populism and snobbery. Graun hacks had a lunch time brainstorm and came up with a list that was trimmed by literary authorities, leaving a huge catalogue of books that ticks the high and popular culture boxes.
Here is that list, alphabetised according to author. Because it is so massive I won't be tagging anyone, so meme it at your own risk!
To show off my accumulation of literary capital (or, rather, the lack thereof) the books I've read are put in bold, and those that grace the shelves of the BC household are in italics. For me it's 293 read and 240 gathering dust on our bookcases. What's your tally?
The Face of Another by Kobo Abe
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
Anthills of the Savannah by Chinua Achebe
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Silver Stallion by Junghyo Ahn
Le Grand Meaulnes by Henri Alain-Fournier
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Death of a Hero by Richard Aldington
Non-Stop by Brian W Aldiss
The Man with the Golden Arm by Nelson Algren
Fantomas by Marcel Allain and Pierre Souvestre
The Mask of Dimitrios by Eric Ambler
Epitaph for a Spy by Eric Ambler
Journey into Fear by Eric Ambler
Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis
Money by Martin Amis
The Information by Martin Amis
London Fields by Martin Amis
Untouchable by Mulk Raj Anand
Foundation by Isaac Asimov
Dom Casmurro Joaquim by Maria Machado de Assis
Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson
Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood
The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
Emma by Jane Austen
Persuasion by Jane Austen
The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster
In the Country of Last Things by Paul Auster
Epileptic by David B
The Bottle Factory Outing by Beryl Bainbridge
According to Queeney by Beryl Bainbridge
Master Georgie by Beryl Bainbridge
Room Temperature by Nicholson Baker
Darkness Falls from the Air by Nigel Balchin
Go Tell it on the Mountain by James Baldwin
Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin
Empire of the Sun by JG Ballard
The Drowned World by JG Ballard
Crash by JG Ballard
Millennium People by JG Ballard
Eugenie Grandet by Honore de Balzac
Le Pere Goriot by Honore de Balzac
La Comedie Humaine by Honore de Balzac
They Were Counted by Miklos Banffy
The Crow Road by Iain Banks
The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks
Consider Phlebas by Iain M Banks
The L Shaped Room by Lynne Reid Banks
Weaveworld by Clive Barker
Darkmans by Nicola Barker
Regeneration by Pat Barker
Nightwood by Djuna Barnes
Flaubert's Parrot by Julian Barnes
A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters by Julian Barnes
A Long Long Way by Sebastian Barry
A Kind of Loving by Stan Barstow
Augustus Carp, Esq. by Himself by Henry Howarth Bashford
The Garden of the Finzi-Cortinis by Giorgio Bassani
Love for Lydia by HE Bates
Fair Stood the Wind for France by HE Bates
Carrie's War by Nina Bawden
The Time Ships by Stephen Baxter
Darwin's Radio by Greg Bear
Fun Home by Alison Bechdel
Malone Dies by Samuel Beckett
Molloy by Samuel Beckett
Vathek by William Beckford
A Legacy by Sybille Bedford
Zuleika Dobson by Max Beerbohm
Oroonoko, or The Royal Slave by Aphra Behn
The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow
More Die of Heartbreak by Saul Bellow
Herzog by Saul Bellow
Humboldt's Gift by Saul Bellow
The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett
The Old Wives' Tale by Arnold Bennett
Clayhanger by Arnold Bennett
Queen Lucia by EF Benson
Trent's Last Case by EC Bentley
G by John Berger
The Poisoned Chocolates Case by Anthony Berkeley
Extinction by Thomas Bernhard
The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester
Lorna Doone by RD Blackmore
The Beast Must Die by Nicholas Blake
The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolano
The Death of the Heart by Elizabeth Bowen
The Heat of the Day by Elizabeth Bowen
The Last September by Elizabeth Bowen
Two Serious Ladies by Jane Bowles
The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles
The Ascent of Rum Doodle by WE Bowman
A Good Man in Africa by William Boyd
An Ice-Cream War by William Boyd
Any Human Heart by William Boyd
The History Man by Malcolm Bradbury
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Lady Audley's Secret by Mary E Braddon
No Bed for Bacon by Caryl Brahms and SJ Simon
Room at the Top by John Braine
When the Wind Blows by Raymond Briggs
A Dry White Season by Andre Brink
Lost Souls by Poppy Z Brite
The Death of Virgil by Hermann Broch
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Vilette by Charlotte Bronte
Shirley by Charlotte Bronte
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
Look At Me by Anita Brookner
Wieland by Charles Brockden Brown
Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown
The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan
Greenmantle by John Buchan
Rogue Moon by Algis Budrys
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
The Coming Race by Egel Bulwer-Lytton
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
The End of the World News by Anthony Burgess
Earthly Powers by Anthony Burgess
The Neon Rain by James Lee Burke
The Tin Roof Blowdown by James Lee Burke
The Asphalt Jungle by WR Burnett
Evelina by Fanny Burney
A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Naked Lunch by William Burroughs
Kindred by Octavia Butler
Erewhon by Samuel Butler
The Way of All Flesh by Samuel Butler
The Sound of my Voice by Ron Butlin
Possession by AS Byatt
The Virgin in the Garden by AS Byatt
The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M Cain
Double Indemnity by James M Cain
Tobacco Road by Erskine Caldwell
The Baron in the Trees by Italo Calvino
Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino
The Influence by Ramsey Campbell
The Outsider by Albert Camus
The Plague by Albert Camus
Auto-da-Fe by Elias Canetti
Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote
Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey
Illywhacker by Peter Carey
True History of the Ned Kelly Gang by Peter Carey
The Kingdom of this World by Alejo Carpentier
The Hollow Man by John Dickson Carr
A Season in Sinji by JL Carr
The Harpole Report by JL Carr
A Month in the Country by JL Carr
The Hearing Trumpet by Leonora Carrington
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There by Lewis Carroll
Wise Children by Angela Carter
Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter
The Passion of New Eve by Angela Carter
Mister Johnson by Joyce Cary
The Horse's Mouth by Joyce Cary
The Professor's House by Willa Cather
My Antonia by Willa Cather
A Lost Lady by Willa Cather
One of Ours by Willa Cather
Journey to the End of the Night by Louis-Ferdinand Celine
Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
Monkey by Wu Ch'eng-en
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon
The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler
No Orchids for Miss Blandish by James Hadley Chase
The Wapshot Chronicle by John Cheever
The Man who was Thursday by GK Chesterton
The Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers
The Awakening by Kate Chopin
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie
The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie
The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie
Childhood's End by Arthur C Clarke
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke
Les Enfants Terrible by Jean Cocteau
What a Carve Up! by Jonathan Coe
Disgrace by JM Coetzee
Waiting for the Barbarians by JM Coeztee
The Vagabond by Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette
Claudine a l'ecole by Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette
Cheri by Sidonie-Gabrielle Collette
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
Manservant and Maidservant by Ivy Compton-Burnett
The Manchurian Candidate by Richard Condon
Hello Summer, Goodbye by Michael G Coney
The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad
Under Western Eyes by Joseph Conrad
Victory: An Island Tale by Joseph Conrad
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad
Nostromo by Joseph Conrad
Sharpe's Eagle by Bernard Cornwell
Postmortem by Patricia Cornwell
Girlfriend in a Coma by Douglas Coupland
Microserfs by Douglas Coupland
The History of Pompey the Little by Francis Coventry
Being Dead by Jim Crace
Quarantine by Jim Crace
The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane
The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
The Case of the Gilded Fly by Edmund Crispin
Just William by Richmal Crompton
Poetic Justice by Amanda Cross
House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski
Pig Tales by Marie Darrieussecq
The Mandarins by Simone de Beauvoir
The Princess of Cleves by Madame de Lafayette
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Roxana by Daniel Defoe
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe
The Ipcress File by Len Deighton
Bomber by Len Deighton
The Provincial Lady by EM Delafield
The Einstein Intersection by Samuel R Delaney
Underworld by Don DeLilloWhite Noise by Don DeLillo
Last Seen Wearing by Colin Dexter
The Remorseful Day by Colin Dexter
Ratking by Michael Dibdin
Dead Lagoon by Michael Dibdin
Dirty Tricks by Michael Dibdin
A Rich Full Death by Michael Dibdin
Vendetta by Michael Dibdin
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K Dick
The Man in the High Castle by Philip K Dick
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens
Martin Chuzzlewit by Charles Dickens
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
Bleak House by Charles Dickens
Dombey and Son by Charles Dickens
Hard Times by Charles Dickens
Little Dorritt by Charles Dickens
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
Deliverance by James Dickey
Jacques the Fatalist and his Master by Denis Diderot
Play It As It Lays by Joan Didion
Camp Concentration by Thomas M Disch
Sybil or The Two Nations by Benjamin Disraeli
Berlin Alexanderplatz by Alfred Döblin
The Book of Daniel by EL Doctorow
A Fairy Tale of New York by JP Donleavy
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Notes from the Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky
USA by John Dos Passos
Three Soldiers by John Dos Passos
My New York Diary by Julie Doucet
South Wind by Norman Douglas
A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle
The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle
The Sign of Four by Arthur Conan Doyle
The Commitments by Roddy Doyle
The Millstone by Margaret Drabble
An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser
Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser
My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier
The Parasites by Daphne du Maurier
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
The Lover by Marguerite Duras
My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell
Justine by Lawrence Durrell
The Pledge by Friedrich Durrenmatt
The Bamboo Bed by William Eastlake
The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco
Ennui by Maria Edgeworth
Castle Rackrent by Maria Edgeworth
Middlemarch by George Eliot
Silas Marner by George Eliot
Adam Bede by George Eliot
Daniel Deronda by George Eliot
The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot
American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
LA Confidential by James Ellroy
The Big Nowhere by James Ellroy
A Quiet Belief in Angels by RJ Ellory
Cheese by Willem Elsschot
Silence by Shusaku Endo
The Gathering by Anne Enright
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
Under the Skin by Michel Faber
The Siege of Krishnapur by JG Farrell
Sanctuary by William Faulkner
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks
Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding
Joseph Andrews by Henry Fielding
Tom Jones by Henry Fielding
Caprice by Ronald Firbank
The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald
Tender is the Night by F Scott Fitzgerald
The Blue Flower by Penelope Fitzgerald
Bouvard et Pécuchet by Gustave Flaubert
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
Sentimental Education by Gustave Flaubert
Casino Royale by Ian Fleming
Goldfinger by Ian Fleming
You Only Live Twice by Ian Fleming
Everything is Illuminated by Jonathon Safran Foer
Effi Briest by Theodore Fontane
The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford
Parade's End by Ford Madox Ford
The Sportswriter by Richard Ford
Independence Day by Richard Ford
The African Queen by CS Forester
The Ship by CS Forester
Howards End by EM Forster
A Room with a View by EM Forster
A Passage to India by EM Forster
The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth
The French Lieutenant's Woman by John Fowles
The Magus by John Fowles
The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen
Flashman by George MacDonald Fraser
Towards the End of the Morning by Michael Frayn
Spies by Michael Frayn
Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier
Hideous Kinky by Esther Freud
The Recognitions by William Gaddis
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
The Snow Goose by Paul Gallico
The Man of Property by John Galsworthy
The Beach by Alex Garland
Red Shift by Alan Garner
Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell
Ruth by Elizabeth Gaskell
Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell
North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
The Polygots by William Gerhardie
Sunset Song by Lewis Grassic Gibbon
Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
Neuromancer by William Gibson
The Immoralist by Andre Gide
The Vatican Cellars by Andre Gide
Strait is the Gate by Andre Gide
The Counterfeiters by Andre Gide
Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
The Odd Women by George Gissing
New Grub Street by George Gissing
The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang Goethe
Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
To The Ends of the Earth trilogy by William Golding
The Vicar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith
Oblomov by Ivan Goncharov
July's People by Nadine Gordimer
Mother by Maxim Gorky
Asterix the Gaul by Rene Goscinny
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass
Count Belisarius by Robert Graves
Lanark by Alastair Gray
Brewster's Millions by Richard Greaves (George Barr McCutcheon)
Living by Henry Green
Squire Haggard's Journal by Michael Green
Love on the Dole by Walter Greenwood
The End of the Affair by Graham Greene
Brighton Rock by Graham Greene
A Gun for Sale by Graham Greene
The Ministry of Fear by Graham Greene
The Third Man by Graham Greene
Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene
Travels with My Aunt by Graham Greene
The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene
A Time to Kill by John Grisham
The King of Torts by John Grisham
Life and Fate by Vassily Grossman
Diary of a Nobody by George Grossmith
The Little World of Don Camillo by Giovanni Guareschi
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
De Niro's Game by Rawi Hage
King Solomon's Mines by H Rider Haggard
She: A History of Adventure by H Rider Haggard
The Forever War by Joe Haldeman
The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall
Hangover Square by Patrick Hamilton
The Slaves of Solitude by Patrick Hamilton
The Glass Key by Dashiell Hammett
The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett
Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett
The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett
Hunger by Knut Hamsun
Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy
Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy
The Woodlanders by Thomas Hardy
Covenant with Death by John Harris
Enigma by Robert Harris
Fatherland by Robert Harris
Black Sunday by Thomas Harris
Red Dragon by Thomas Harris
Light by M John Harrison
The Shrimp and the Anemone by LP Hartley
The Go-Between by LP Hartley
The Good Soldier Svejk by Jaroslav Hasek
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Transit of Venus by Shirley Hazzard
Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A Heinlein
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway
Dune by Frank L Herbert
The Crab with the Golden Claws by Georges Remi Herge
Tintin in Tibet by Georges Remi Herge
The Castafiore Emerald by Georges Remi Herge
Steppenwolf by Herman Hesse
Narziss and Goldmund by Hermann Hesse
The Glass Bead Game by Herman Hesse
The Infamous Army by Georgette Heyer
Regency Buck by Georgette Heyer
Tourist Season by Carl Hiaasen
The Friends of Eddie Coyle by George V Higgins
Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith
The Talented Mr Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
Bones and Silence by Reginald Hill
A Rage in Harlem by Chester Himes
A Kestrel for a Knave by Barry Hines
Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban
Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow by Peter Hoeg
Mr Blandings Builds His Dream House by Eric Hodgkins
The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner by James Hogg
The Swimming-Pool Library by Alan Hollinghurst
The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst
South Riding by Winifred Holtby
The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope
High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
The Three Paradoxes by Paul Hornschemeier
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Atomised by Michel Houellebecq
Rogue Male by Geoffrey Household
I Served the King of England by Bohumil Hrabal
Green Mansions: A Romance of the Tropical Forest by WH Hudson
A High Wind in Jamaica by Richard Hughes
Tom Brown's Schooldays by Thomas Hughes
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
Crome Yellow by Aldous Huxley
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
The Lecturer's Tale by James Hynes
Malice Aforethought by Francis Iles
Silence of the Grave by Arnadur Indridason
Death at the President's Lodging by Michael Innes
A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
Mr Norris Changes Trains by Christopher Isherwood
Goodbye to Berlin by Christopher Isherwood
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
The Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
The Mighty Walzer Howard by Jacobson
The Ambassadors by Henry James
Washington Square by Henry James
Portrait of a Lady by Henry James
The Wings of the Dove by Henry James
The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
The Children of Men by PD James
Cover Her Face by PD James
A Taste for Death by PD James
Pictures from an Institution by Randall Jarrell
After London; or, Wild England by Richard Jefferies
The Piano Teacher by Elfriede Jelinek
The Tortoise and the Hare by Elizabeth Jenkins
Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K Jerome
The Unfortunates by BS Johnson
Rasselas by Samuel Johnson
Bold as Love by Gwyneth Jones
From Here to Eternity by James Jones
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
Ulysses by James Joyce
Finnegan's Wake by James Joyce
Chronicle in Stone by Ismael Kadare
The Castle by Franz Kafka
The Trial by Franz Kafka
Andersonville by MacKinlay Kantor
Beauty and Saddness by Yasunari Kawabata
The Far Pavillions by Mary Margaret Kaye
Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis
Good Behaviour by Molly Keane
Lake Wobegon Days by Garrison Keillor
How Late it Was, How Late by James Kelman
Memet my Hawk by Yasar Kemal
Friday the Rabbi Slept Late by Harry Kemelman
Confederates by Thomas Keneally
Schindler's Ark by Thomas Keneally
Day by AL Kennedy
Moon over Africa by Pamela Kent
On the Road by Jack Kerouac
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
Misery by Stephen King
Dolores Claiborne by Stephen King
The Shining by Stephen King
Kim by Rudyard Kipling
Darkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler
The Painted Bird by Jerzy Kosinski
The Book of Laughter and Forgetting by Milan Kundera
The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
The Buddha of Suburbia by Hanif Kureishi
Death and the Penguin by Andrey Kurkov
Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Pierre-Ambroise-Francois Choderlos de Laclos
The Leopard by Giuseppi di Lampedusa
The Debt to Pleasure by John Lanchester
A Girl in Winter by Philip Larkin
Passing by Nella Larsen
The Victorian Chaise-longue by Marghanita Laski
Sons and Lovers by DH Lawrence
Lady Chatterley's Lover by DH Lawrence
The Rainbow by DH Lawrence
Women in Love by DH Lawrence
The Constant Gardener by John le Carre
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carre
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by John le Carre
Uncle Silas by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
The Earthsea Series by Ursula Le Guin
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Cider with Rosie by Laurie Lee
Invitation to the Waltz by Rosamond Lehmann
The Echoing Grove by Rosamond Lehmann
The Weather in the Streets by Rosamond Lehmann
Solaris by Stanislaw Lem
52 Pick-up by Elmore Leonard
Get Shorty by Elmore Leonard
L'Histoire de Gil Blas de Santillane (Gil Blas) by Alain-René Lesage
The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing
Memoirs of a Survivor by Doris Lessing
The Grass is Singing by Doris Lessing
Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem
The Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis
The Monk by Matthew Lewis
Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis
Elmer Gantry by Sinclair Lewis
Main Street by Sinclair Lewis
If Not Now, When? by Primo Levi
A Voyage to Arcturus by David Lindsay
How Green was My Valley by Richard Llewellyn
Changing Places by David Lodge
Nice Work by David Lodge
Martin Eden by Jack London
The Call of the Wild by Jack London
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes by Anita Loos
Zami by Audre Lorde
Under the Volcano by Malcolm Lowry
The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum
Foreign Affairs by Alison Lurie
Cop Hater by Ed McBain
The Butcher Boy by Patrick McCabe
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy
All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy
Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
The Group by Mary McCarthy
The Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
The Mark of Zorro by Johnston McCulley
Atonement by Ian McEwan
The Child in Time by Ian McEwan
Enduring Love by Ian McEwan
Amongst Women by John McGahern
Bright Lights, Big City by Jay McInerney
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurty
The Towers of Trebizond by Rose Macaulay
England, Their England by AG Macdonell
Absolute Beginners by Colin MacInnes
Whisky Galore by Compton Mackenzie
Of Love and Hunger by Julian Maclaren-Ross
The Guns of Navarone by Alistair MacLean
The Night Sessions by Ken Macleod
Samarkand by Amin Maalouf
The Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas by Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis
Memoirs of a Gnostic Dwarf by David Madsen
Palace Walk by Naguib Mahfouz
The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer
The Assistant by Bernard Malamud
Remembering Babylon by David Malouf
La Condition Humaine by Andre Malraux
Sidetracked by Henning Mankell
Beyond Black by Hilary Mantel
Buddenbrooks by Thomas Mann
Death in Venice by Thomas Mann
The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann
Fortunes of War by Olivia Manning
The Betrothed by Alessandro Manzoni
The Silent Duchess by Dacia Maraini
A Heart So White by Javier Marias
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The Children of the New Forest by Frederick Marryat
I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
Melmoth the Wanderer by Charles Maturin
Cakes and Ale - Or, the Skeleton in the Cupboard by W Somerset Maugham
Of Human Bondage by Somerset Maugham
Bel-Ami by Guy de Maupassant
Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin
The Chateau by William Maxwell
So Long, See you Tomorrow by William Maxwell
The Rector's Daughter by FM Mayor
Moby-Dick or, The Whale by Herman Melville
Ascent by Jed Mercurio
The Ordeal of Richard Feverek by George Meredith
The Egoist by George Meredith
Tales of the South Pacific by James Michener
The Scar by China Mieville
Ingenious Pain by Andrew Miller
Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller
Patience and Sarah by Isabel Miller
A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M Miller Jr
Puckoon by Spike Milligan
The Restraint of Beasts by Magnus Mills
Family Matters by Rohinton Mistry
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford
Love in a Cold Climate by Nancy Mitford
Sour Sweet by Timothy Mo
The Cruel Sea by Nicholas Monsarrat
Mother London by Michael Moorcock
The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne by Brian Moore
Arturo's Island by Elsa Morante
History by Elsa Morante
The Time of Indifference by Alberto Moravia
Charade by John Mortimer
News from Nowhere by William Morris
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
Beloved by Toni Morrison
Titmuss Regained by John Mortimer
Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley
Who Do You Think You Are? by Alice Munro
Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami
Under the Net by Iris Murdoch
The Black Prince by Iris Murdoch
The Man Without Qualities by Robert Musil
Pnin by Vladimir Nabokov
Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov
Ada or Ardor by Vladimir Nabokov
Lolita, or the Confessions of a White Widowed Male by Vladimir Nabokov
Fireflies by Shiva Naipaul
A House for Mr Biswas by VS Naipaul
A Bend in the River by VS Naipaul
The Painter of Signs by RK Narayan
Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky
Delta of Venus by Anais Nin
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
The Sorrow of War by Bao Ninh
Ringworld by Larry Niven
Vurt by Jeff Noon
All Souls Day by Cees Nooteboom
McTeague by Frank Norris
Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian
At-Swim-Two-Birds by Flann O'Brien
The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien
The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
Personality by Andrew O'Hagan
Teach Us to Outgrow Our Madness by Kezaburo Oe
The Famished Road by Ben Okri
The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje
The Great Impersonation by E Phillips Oppenheim
The Strange Borders of Palace Crescent by E Phillips Oppenheim
The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy
Burmese Days by George Orwell
Animal Farm by George Orwell
Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk
Toxic Shock by Sara Paretsky
Blacklist by Sara Paretsky
The Ragazzi Pier by Paolo Pasolini
Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak
Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton
The Moon and the Bonfire by Cesare Pavese
Nineteen Seventy Four by David Peace
Nineteen Seventy Seven by David Peace
GB84 by David Peace
Nightmare Abbey by Thomas Love Peacock
Headlong Hall by Thomas Love Peacock
Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake
The Big Blowdown by George Pelecanos
Hard Revolution by George Pelecanos
The Sacred Book of the Werewolf by Victor Pelevin
The Moviegoer by Walker Percy
La Disparition by Georges Perec
Les Revenentes by Georges Perec
La Vie Mode d'Emploi by Georges Perec
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
My Search for Warren Harding by Robert Plunkett
The Space Merchants by Frederik Pohl and CM Kornbluth
My Name Is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok
A Dance to the Music of Time by Anthony Powell
The Valley of Bones by Anthony Powell
The Soldier's Art by Anthony Powell
The Military Philosophers by Anthony Powell
Afternoon Men by Anthony Powell
A Time to be Born by Dawn Powell
A Glastonbury Romance by John Cowper Powys
The Discworld Series by Terry Pratchett
Manon Lescaut by Abbe Prevost
Lush Life by Richard Price
The Prestige by Christopher Priest
The Good Companions by JB Priestley
The Shipping News by E Annie Proulx
Remembrance of Things Past by Marcel Proust
His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
The Godfather by Mario Puzo
Excellent Women by Barbara Pym
Less Than Angels by Barbara Pym
V by Thomas Pynchon
The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon
Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon
Vineland by Thomas Pynchon
Zazie in the Metro by Raymond Queneau
The Crime of Father Amado by José Maria de Eça de Queiroz
Gargantua and Pantagruel by Francois Rabelais
The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe
Black and Blue by Ian Rankin
The Hanging Gardens by Ian Rankin
Exit Music by Ian Rankin
The Surprising Adventures of Baron Munchausen by Rudolp Erich Raspe
Alms for Oblivion by Simon Raven
A Married Man by Piers Paul Read
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
Judgment in Stone by Ruth Rendell
Live Flesh by Ruth Rendell
Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds
Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
Pointed Roofs by Dorothy Richardson
The Fortunes of Richard Mahoney by Henry Handel Richardson
Maurice Guest by Henry Handel Richardson
Pamela by Samuel Richardson
Clarissa by Samuel Richardson
Solomon Gursky Was Here by Mordecai Richler
The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
The Devil to Pay in the Backlands by Joao Guimaraes Rosa
Call it Sleep by Henry Roth
The Radetzky March by Joseph Roth
American Pastoral by Philip Roth
The Human Stain by Philip Roth
Portnoy's Complaint by Philip Roth
Julie, ou la Nouvelle Heloise by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by JK Rowling
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie
Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
Shame by Salman Rushdie
The Female Man by Joanna Russ
Air by Geoff Ryman
Bonjour Tristesse by Francoise Sagan
Ali and Nino by Kurban Said
Sacaramouche by Rafael Sabatini
Captain Blood by Rafael Sabatini
The Westminster Alice by Saki
The Unbearable Bassington by Saki
The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger
Light Years by James Salter
A Sport and a Passtime by James Salter
The Hunters by James Salter
Alberta and Jacob by Cora Sandel
Dissolution by CJ Sansom
Blindness by Jose Saramago
Whose Body? by Dorothy L Sayers
Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy Le Sayers
To Each his Own by Leonardo Sciascia
The Reader by Benhardq Schlink
Staying On by Paul Scott
Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott
The Reluctant Orphan by Aara Seale
Hurrah for St Trinian's by Ronald Searle
The Rings of Saturn by WG Sebald
Austerlitz by WG Sebald
Love Story by Eric Segal
Last Exit to Brooklyn by Hubert Selby Jr
Great Apes by Will Self
How the Dead Live by Will Self
The Lonely Londoners by Samuel Selvon
God's Bit of Wood by Ousmane Sembene
The Case of Comrade Tulayev by Victor Serge
A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth
Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
Porterhouse Blue by Tom Sharpe
Blott on the Landscape by Tom Sharpe
The Young Lions by Irwin Shaw
Richshaw Boy by Lao She
Office Politics by Wilfrid Sheed
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Unless by Carol Shields
We Need to Talk About Kevin - Lionel Shriver
A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning by Alan Sillitoe
The Madman of Bergerac by Georges Simenon
The Blue Room by Georges Simenon
Belles Lettres Papers: A Novel by Charles Simmons
Hyperion by Dan Simmons
The Three Sisters by May Sinclair
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
Enemies, a Love Story by Isaac Bashevis Singer
The Family Moskat or The Manor or The Estate by Isaac Bashevis Singer
The Laughing Policeman by Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo
At Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept by Elizabeth Smart
Moo by Jane Smiley
A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
Gorky Park by Martin Cruz Smith
Only Forward by Michael Marshall Smith
Novel on Yellow Paper by Stevie Smith
Topper Takes a Trip by Thorne Smith
White Teeth by Zadie Smith
On Beauty by Zadie Smith
The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom by Tobias Smollett
The Adventures of Roderick Random by Tobias Smollett
The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle by Tobias Smollett
The Expedition of Humphry Clinker by Tobias Smollett
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch by Alexandr Solzhenitsyn
The Map of Love by Ahdaf Soueif
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark
The Girls of Slender Means by Muriel Spark
The Driver's Seat by Muriel Spark
Loitering with Intent by Muriel Spark
A Far Cry from Kensington by Muriel Spark
Maus by Art Spiegelman
Star Maker by Olaf Stapledon
The Man Who Loved Children by Christina Stead
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
The Red and the Black by Stendhal
The Charterhouse of Parma by Stendhal
Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
Cryptonomicon by Neil Stephenson
The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Laurence Sterne
A Sentimental Journey by Lawrence Sterne
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
White Man Falling by Mike Stocks
Dracula by Bram Stoker
A Flag for Sunrise by Robert Stone
This Sporting Life by David Storey
The League of Frightened Men by Rex Stout
Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfield
The Red Room by August Stringberg
Sophie's Choice by William Styron
Handley Cross by RS Surtees
Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann
Perfume by Patrick Suskind
Confessions of Zeno by Italo Svevo
Waterland by Graham Swift
A Tale of a Tub by Jonathan Swift
Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
The Home and the World by Rabindranath Tagore
Diary of a Mad Old Man by Junichiro Tanizaki
Penrod by Booth Tarkington
The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
Angel by Elizabeth Taylor
The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey
The Luck of Barry Lyndon by William Makepeace Thackeray
Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
Before Lunch by Angela Thirkell
Tropic of Ruislip by Leslie Thomas
Lark Rise to Candleford by Flora Thompson
The Getaway by Jim Thompson
The Insult by Rupert Thomson
The Blackwater Lightship by Colm Toibin
The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien
The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13 3/4 by Sue Townsend
Music and Silence by Rose Tremain
The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by Robert Tressell
Death in Summer by William Trevor
Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope
The Last Chronicle of Barset by Anthony Trollope
The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope
Venus on the Half-Shell by Kilgore Trout
Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev
First Love by Ivan Turgenev
Pudd'nhead Wilson by Mark Twain
The Mysterious Stranger by Mark Twain
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain
Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler
The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler
Peace in War by Miguel de Unamuno
The Witches of Eastwick by John Updike
The Rabbit Omnibus by John Updike
Couples by John Updike
Z by Vassilis Vassilikos
Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne
A Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne
Williwaw by Gore Vidal
A Dark-Adapted Eye by Barbara Vine
A Fatal inversion by Barbara Vine
King Solomon's Carpet by Barbara Vine
Candide by Voltaire
Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut
Slaughter-House Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut
Slouching Towards Kalamazoo by Peter De Vries
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
The Four Just Men by Edgar Wallace
The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole
Institute Benjamenta by Robert Walser
Jimmy Corrigan, The Smarest Kid on Earth by Chris Ware
Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner
Billy Liar by Keith Waterhouse
Affinity by Sarah Waters
Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
The Night Watch by Sarah Waters
Morvern Callar by Alan Warner
Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh
Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh
Black Mischief by Evelyn Waugh
Scoop by Evelyn Waugh
The Loved One by Evelyn Waugh
A Handful of Dust by Evelyn Waugh
Put Out More Flags by Evelyn Waugh
Men at Arms by Evelyn Waugh
The Graduate by Charles Webb
The Life and Loves of a She-Devil by Fay Weldon
Tono Bungay by HG Wells
The History of Mr Polly by HG Wells
The Time Machine by HG Wells
The War of the Worlds by HG Wells
The Island of Dr Moreau by HG Wells
Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh
The Day of the Locust by Nathanael West
The Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West
The Fountain Overflows by Rebecca West
The Machine-Gunners by Robert Westall
The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton
Frost in May by Antonia White
The Tree of Man by Patrick White
Voss by Patrick White
The Sword in the Stone by TH White
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Molesworth by Geoffrey Willans and Ronald Searle
The Wimbledon Poisoner by Nigel Williams
Anglo-Saxon Attitudes by Angus Wilson
The Old Men at the Zoo by Angus Wilson
Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson
The Passion by Jeanette Winterson
The Virginian by Owen Wister
Something Fresh by PG Wodehouse
Piccadilly Jim by PG Wodehouse
Thank You Jeeves by PG Wodehouse
Heavy Weather by PG Wodehouse
The Code of the Woosters by PG Wodehouse
Joy in the Morning by PG Wodehouse
The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe
The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe
East Lynne by Ellen Wood
I'll Go to Bed at Noon by Gerard Woodward
To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
Orlando by Virginia Woolf
The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk
Native Son by Richard Wright
Swiss Family Robinson by Johann David Wyss
Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham
The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham
Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates
We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
Therese Raquin by Emile Zola
Germinal by Emile Zola
La Bete Humaine by Emile Zola
The Debacle by Emile Zola
