TIME Magazine All Time 100 Novels

This is one of the 759 lists we use to generate our main The Greatest Books list.

About this list

TIME Magazine, 100 Books

Time critics Lev Grossman and Richard Lacayo pick the 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to the present.

This list was originally published in 2005 and was added to this site over 12 years ago.

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Cover of 'The Adventures of Augie March' by Saul Bellow

The Adventures of Augie March

Cover of 'All the King's Men' by Robert Penn Warren

All the King's Men

Robert Penn Warren

Cover of 'American Pastoral' by Philip Roth

American Pastoral

Cover of 'Animal Farm' by George Orwell

Animal Farm

Cover of 'Appointment in Samarra' by John O'Hara

Appointment in Samarra

Cover of 'Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret' by Judy Blume

Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret

Cover of 'The Assistant' by Bernard Malamud

The Assistant

Bernard Malamud

Cover of 'Atonement' by Ian McEwan

Atonement

Cover of 'Beloved' by Toni Morrison

Beloved

Cover of 'The Berlin Stories' by Christopher Isherwood

The Berlin Stories

Christopher Isherwood

Cover of 'The Big Sleep' by Raymond Chandler

The Big Sleep

Raymond Chandler

Cover of 'The Blind Assassin' by Margaret Atwood

The Blind Assassin

Margaret Atwood

Cover of 'Blood Meridian' by Cormac McCarthy

Blood Meridian

Cormac McCarthy

Cover of 'Brideshead Revisited' by Evelyn Waugh

Brideshead Revisited

Cover of 'The Bridge of San Luis Rey' by Thornton Wilder

The Bridge of San Luis Rey

Thornton Wilder

Cover of 'Call It Sleep' by Henry Roth

Call It Sleep

Cover of 'Catch-22' by Joseph Heller

Catch-22

Cover of 'The Catcher in the Rye' by J. D. Salinger

The Catcher in the Rye

Cover of 'A Clockwork Orange' by Anthony Burgess

A Clockwork Orange

Anthony Burgess

Cover of 'The Confessions of Nat Turner' by William Styron

The Confessions of Nat Turner

Cover of 'The Corrections' by Jonathan Franzen

The Corrections

Jonathan Franzen

Cover of 'The Crying of Lot 49' by Thomas Pynchon

The Crying of Lot 49

Cover of 'A Dance to the Music of Time' by Anthony Powell

A Dance to the Music of Time

Cover of 'The Day of the Locust' by Nathanael West

The Day of the Locust

Cover of 'Death Comes for the Archbishop' by Willa Cather

Death Comes for the Archbishop

Cover of 'A Death in the Family' by James Agee

A Death in the Family

Cover of 'The Death of the Heart' by Elizabeth Bowen

The Death of the Heart

Elizabeth Bowen

Cover of 'Deliverance' by James Dickey

Deliverance

Cover of 'Dog Soldiers' by Robert Stone

Dog Soldiers

Cover of 'Falconer' by John Cheever

Falconer

Cover of 'The French Lieutenant's Woman' by John Fowles

The French Lieutenant's Woman

Cover of 'The Golden Notebook' by Doris May Lessing

The Golden Notebook

Doris May Lessing

Cover of 'Go Tell it on the Mountain' by James Baldwin

Go Tell it on the Mountain

Cover of 'Gone With the Wind' by Margaret Mitchell

Gone With the Wind

Margaret Mitchell

Cover of 'The Grapes of Wrath' by John Steinbeck

The Grapes of Wrath

Cover of 'Gravity's Rainbow' by Thomas Pynchon

Gravity's Rainbow

Cover of 'The Great Gatsby' by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Great Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Cover of 'A Handful of Dust' by Evelyn Waugh

A Handful of Dust

Cover of 'The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter' by Carson McCullers

The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter

Carson McCullers

Cover of 'The Heart of the Matter' by Graham Greene

The Heart of the Matter

Cover of 'Herzog' by Saul Bellow

Herzog

Cover of 'Housekeeping' by Marilynne Robinson

Housekeeping

Marilynne Robinson

Cover of 'A House for Mr. Biswas' by V. S. Naipaul

A House for Mr. Biswas

Cover of 'I, Claudius' by Robert Graves

I, Claudius

Cover of 'Infinite Jest' by David Foster Wallace

Infinite Jest

David Foster Wallace

Cover of 'Invisible Man' by Ralph Ellison

Invisible Man

Cover of 'Light in August' by William Faulkner

Light in August

William Faulkner

Cover of 'The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe' by C. S. Lewis

The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe

Cover of 'Lolita' by Vladimir Nabokov

Lolita

Vladimir Nabokov

Cover of 'Lord of the Flies' by William Golding

Lord of the Flies

William Golding

Cover of 'The Lord Of The Rings' by J. R. R. Tolkien

The Lord Of The Rings

J. R. R. Tolkien

Cover of 'Loving' by Henry Green

Loving

Cover of 'Lucky Jim' by Kingsley Amis

Lucky Jim

Cover of 'The Man Who Loved Children' by Christina Stead

The Man Who Loved Children

Christina Stead

Cover of 'Midnight's Children' by Salman Rushdie

Midnight's Children

Cover of 'Money' by Martin Amis

Money

Cover of 'The Moviegoer' by Walker Percy

The Moviegoer

Cover of 'Mrs. Dalloway' by Virginia Woolf

Mrs. Dalloway

Cover of 'Naked Lunch' by William S. Burroughs

Naked Lunch

William S. Burroughs

Cover of 'Native Son' by Richard Wright

Native Son

Cover of 'Neuromancer' by William Gibson

Neuromancer

Cover of 'Never Let Me Go' by Kazuo Ishiguro

Never Let Me Go

Cover of 'Nineteen Eighty Four' by George Orwell

Nineteen Eighty Four

Cover of 'On the Road' by Jack Kerouac

On the Road

Cover of 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' by Ken Kesey

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Cover of 'The Painted Bird' by Jerzy Kosinski

The Painted Bird

Cover of 'Pale Fire' by Vladimir Nabokov

Pale Fire

Vladimir Nabokov

Cover of 'A Passage to India' by E. M. Forster

A Passage to India

Cover of 'Play It As It Lays' by Joan Didion

Play It As It Lays

Cover of 'Portnoy's Complaint' by Philip Roth

Portnoy's Complaint

Cover of 'Possession' by A. S. Byatt

Possession

Cover of 'The Power and the Glory' by Graham Greene

The Power and the Glory

Cover of 'The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie' by Muriel Spark

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

Cover of 'Rabbit, Run' by John Updike

Rabbit, Run

Cover of 'Ragtime' by E. L. Doctorow

Ragtime

Cover of 'The Recognitions' by William Gaddis

The Recognitions

Cover of 'Red Harvest' by Dashiell Hammett

Red Harvest

Dashiell Hammett

Cover of 'Revolutionary Road' by Richard Yates

Revolutionary Road

Cover of 'The Sheltering Sky' by Paul Bowles

The Sheltering Sky

Cover of 'Slaughterhouse-Five' by Kurt Vonnegut

Slaughterhouse-Five

Cover of 'Snow Crash' by Neal Stephenson

Snow Crash

Neal Stephenson

Cover of 'The Sot-Weed Factor' by John Barth

The Sot-Weed Factor

Cover of 'The Sound and the Fury' by William Faulkner

The Sound and the Fury

William Faulkner

Cover of 'The Sportswriter' by Richard Ford

The Sportswriter

Cover of 'The Spy Who Came in From the Cold' by John le Carré

The Spy Who Came in From the Cold

Cover of 'The Sun Also Rises' by Ernest Hemingway

The Sun Also Rises

Ernest Hemingway

Cover of 'Their Eyes Were Watching God' by Zora Neale Hurston

Their Eyes Were Watching God

Zora Neale Hurston

Cover of 'Things Fall Apart' by Chinua Achebe

Things Fall Apart

Cover of 'To Kill a Mockingbird' by Harper Lee

To Kill a Mockingbird

Cover of 'To the Lighthouse' by Virginia Woolf

To the Lighthouse

Cover of 'Tropic of Cancer' by Henry Miller

Tropic of Cancer

Cover of 'Ubik' by Philip K. Dick

Ubik

Cover of 'Under the Net' by Iris Murdoch

Under the Net

Cover of 'Under the Volcano' by Malcolm Lowry

Under the Volcano

Cover of 'Watchmen' by Alan Moore

Watchmen

Cover of 'White Noise' by Don DeLillo

White Noise

Cover of 'White Teeth' by Zadie Smith

White Teeth

Cover of 'Wide Sargasso Sea' by Jean Rhys

Wide Sargasso Sea

Cover of 'An American Tragedy' by Theodore Dreiser

An American Tragedy

Theodore Dreiser

Cover of 'At Swim Two-Birds' by Flann O'Brien

At Swim Two-Birds