100 Best Novels Written in English

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

About this list

The Guardian, 100 Books

Respected literary critic Robert McCrum selects the definitive 100 novels written in English.

This list was originally published in 2015 and was added to this site over 11 years ago.

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Cover of 'Pilgrim's Progress' by John Bunyan

Pilgrim's Progress

Cover of 'Robinson Crusoe' by Daniel Defoe

Robinson Crusoe

Cover of 'Gulliver's Travels' by Jonathan Swift

Gulliver's Travels

Cover of 'Clarissa' by Samuel Richardson

Clarissa

Samuel Richardson

Cover of 'Tom Jones' by Henry Fielding

Tom Jones

Cover of 'The Life And Opinions Of Tristram Shandy' by Laurence Sterne

The Life And Opinions Of Tristram Shandy

Laurence Sterne

Cover of 'Emma' by Jane Austen

Emma

Cover of 'Frankenstein' by Mary Shelley

Frankenstein

Cover of 'Nightmare Abbey' by Thomas Love Peacock

Nightmare Abbey

Thomas Love Peacock

Cover of 'The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym' by Edgar Allan Poe

The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym

Edgar Allan Poe

Cover of 'Sybil' by Benjamin Disraeli

Sybil

Benjamin Disraeli

Cover of 'Jane Eyre' by Charlotte Brontë

Jane Eyre

Charlotte Brontë

Cover of 'Wuthering Heights' by Emily Brontë

Wuthering Heights

Cover of 'Vanity Fair' by William Makepeace Thackeray

Vanity Fair

William Makepeace Thackeray

Cover of 'David Copperfield' by Charles Dickens

David Copperfield

Charles Dickens

Cover of 'The Scarlet Letter' by Nathaniel Hawthorne

The Scarlet Letter

Nathaniel Hawthorne

Cover of 'Moby-Dick' by Herman Melville

Moby-Dick

Herman Melville

Cover of 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' by Lewis Carroll

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Cover of 'The Moonstone' by Wilkie Collins

The Moonstone

Cover of 'Little Women' by Louisa May Alcott

Little Women

Louisa May Alcott

Cover of 'Middlemarch' by George Eliot

Middlemarch

Cover of 'The Way We Live Now' by Anthony Trollope

The Way We Live Now

Anthony Trollope

Cover of 'Adventures of Huckleberry Finn' by Mark Twain

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Cover of 'Kidnapped' by Robert Louis Stevenson

Kidnapped

Robert Louis Stevenson

Cover of 'Three Men in a Boat' by Jerome K. Jerome

Three Men in a Boat

Jerome K. Jerome

Cover of 'The Sign of Four' by Arthur Conan Doyle

The Sign of Four

Arthur Conan Doyle

Cover of 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' by Oscar Wilde

The Picture of Dorian Gray

Cover of 'New Grub Street' by George Gissing

New Grub Street

Cover of 'Jude the Obscure' by Thomas Hardy

Jude the Obscure

Cover of 'The Red Badge of Courage' by Stephen Crane

The Red Badge of Courage

Cover of 'Dracula' by Bram Stoker

Dracula

Cover of 'Heart of Darkness' by Joseph Conrad

Heart of Darkness

Cover of 'Sister Carrie' by Theodore Dreiser

Sister Carrie

Theodore Dreiser

Cover of 'Kim' by Rudyard Kipling

Kim

Rudyard Kipling

Cover of 'The Call of the Wild' by Jack London

The Call of the Wild

Cover of 'The Golden Bowl' by Henry James

The Golden Bowl

Cover of 'Hadrian the Seventh' by Frederick Rolfe

Hadrian the Seventh

Frederick Rolfe

Cover of 'The Wind in the Willows' by Kenneth Grahame

The Wind in the Willows

Kenneth Grahame

Cover of 'Zuleika Dobson' by Max Beerbohm

Zuleika Dobson

Cover of 'The History of Mr. Polly' by H. G. Wells

The History of Mr. Polly

Cover of 'The Good Soldier' by Ford Madox Ford

The Good Soldier

Ford Madox Ford

Cover of 'The Thirty-Nine Steps' by John Buchan

The Thirty-Nine Steps

Cover of 'Rainbow' by D.H. Lawrence

Rainbow

Cover of 'Of Human Bondage' by W. Somerset Maugham

Of Human Bondage

W. Somerset Maugham

Cover of 'The Age of Innocence' by Edith Wharton

The Age of Innocence

Cover of 'Ulysses' by James Joyce

Ulysses

Cover of 'Babbitt' by Sinclair Lewis

Babbitt

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

A Passage to India

Cover of 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes' by Anita Loos

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

Cover of 'Mrs. Dalloway' by Virginia Woolf

Mrs. Dalloway

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

The Great Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Cover of 'The Sun Also Rises' by Ernest Hemingway

The Sun Also Rises

Ernest Hemingway

Cover of 'Lolly Willowes' by Sylvia Townsend Warner

Lolly Willowes

Sylvia Townsend Warner

Cover of 'The Maltese Falcon' by Dashiell Hammett

The Maltese Falcon

Dashiell Hammett

Cover of 'As I Lay Dying' by William Faulkner

As I Lay Dying

William Faulkner

Cover of 'Brave New World' by Aldous Huxley

Brave New World

Cover of 'Cold Comfort Farm' by Stella Gibbons

Cold Comfort Farm

Cover of 'Nineteen Nineteen' by John Dos Passos

Nineteen Nineteen

John Dos Passos

Cover of 'Tropic of Cancer' by Henry Miller

Tropic of Cancer

Cover of 'Scoop' by Evelyn Waugh

Scoop

Cover of 'Murphy' by Samuel Beckett

Murphy

Cover of 'The Big Sleep' by Raymond Chandler

The Big Sleep

Raymond Chandler

Cover of 'Party Going' by Henry Green

Party Going

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

At Swim Two-Birds

Cover of 'The Grapes of Wrath' by John Steinbeck

The Grapes of Wrath

Cover of 'Joy in the Morning' by P. G. Wodehouse

Joy in the Morning

P. G. Wodehouse

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

All the King's Men

Robert Penn Warren

Cover of 'Under the Volcano' by Malcolm Lowry

Under the Volcano

Cover of 'The Heat of the Day' by Elizabeth Bowen

The Heat of the Day

Elizabeth Bowen

Cover of 'Nineteen Eighty Four' by George Orwell

Nineteen Eighty Four

Cover of 'The End of the Affair' by Graham Greene

The End of the Affair

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

The Catcher in the Rye

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

The Adventures of Augie March

Cover of 'Lord of the Flies' by William Golding

Lord of the Flies

William Golding

Cover of 'Lolita' by Vladimir Nabokov

Lolita

Vladimir Nabokov

Cover of 'On the Road' by Jack Kerouac

On the Road

Cover of 'Voss' by Patrick White

Voss

Cover of 'To Kill a Mockingbird' by Harper Lee

To Kill a Mockingbird

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

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

Cover of 'Catch-22' by Joseph Heller

Catch-22

Cover of 'The Golden Notebook' by Doris May Lessing

The Golden Notebook

Doris May Lessing

Cover of 'A Clockwork Orange' by Anthony Burgess

A Clockwork Orange

Anthony Burgess

Cover of 'A Single Man' by Christopher Isherwood

A Single Man

Christopher Isherwood

Cover of 'In Cold Blood' by Truman Capote

In Cold Blood

Cover of 'The Bell Jar' by Sylvia Plath

The Bell Jar

Cover of 'Portnoy's Complaint' by Philip Roth

Portnoy's Complaint

Cover of 'Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont' by Elizabeth Taylor

Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont

Elizabeth Taylor

Cover of 'Rabbit Redux' by John Updike

Rabbit Redux

Cover of 'Song of Solomon' by Toni Morrison

Song of Solomon

Cover of 'A Bend in the River' by V. S. Naipaul

A Bend in the River

Cover of 'Midnight's Children' by Salman Rushdie

Midnight's Children

Cover of 'Housekeeping' by Marilynne Robinson

Housekeeping

Marilynne Robinson

Cover of 'Money' by Martin Amis

Money

Cover of 'An Artist of the Floating World' by Kazuo Ishiguro

An Artist of the Floating World

Cover of 'The Beginning of Spring' by Penelope Fitzgerald

The Beginning of Spring

Penelope Fitzgerald

Cover of 'Breathing Lessons' by Anne Tyler

Breathing Lessons

Cover of 'Amongst Women' by John McGahern

Amongst Women

Cover of 'Underworld' by Don DeLillo

Underworld

Cover of 'Disgrace' by J. M. Coetzee

Disgrace

Cover of 'True History of the Kelly Gang' by Peter Carey

True History of the Kelly Gang