The new modern classics — the nation’s favourite 20th century novels

This is one of the 743 lists we use to generate our main The Greatest Books list.

About this list

The Times, 50 Books

The list comprises the top 50 bestselling modern classics from the 20th century, as determined by Nielsen BookScan's UK print sales data over the five-year period ending in mid-2024. It highlights enduring favorites across genres like dystopian fiction, literary classics, and dark academia, reflecting readers' preferences for stories that explore themes of paranoia, societal breakdown, and personal struggles. Influenced by TikTok trends, school curriculums, and TV adaptations, the list captures a mix of angst-driven narratives and occasional moments of humor and hope. While heavily dominated by American and British authors, it underscores a darker, introspective literary canon that resonates with contemporary audiences seeking to process complex emotions and turbulent realities.

This list was originally published in 2024 and was added to this site over 1 year ago.

View: List Grid Table
Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
6 Nineteen Eighty Four George Orwell 1949 British English
100 Dune Frank Herbert 1965 American English
132 The Handmaid's Tale Margaret Atwood 1985 Canadian English
55 Animal Farm George Orwell 1945 British English
278 The Secret History Donna Tartt 1992 American English
3 The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald 1925 American English
16 To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee 1960 American English
146 The Hobbit J. R. R. Tolkien 1937 British English
102 The Bell Jar Sylvia Plath 1963 American English
50 Lord of the Flies William Golding 1954 British English
389 The Alchemist Paulo Coelho 1988 Brazilian Portuguese
2212 Good Omens Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman 1990 British English
17008 Westwind Ian Rankin 1990 British English
17008 Rachel's Holiday Marian Keyes 1997 Irish English
170 Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck 1937 American English
1927 Killing Floor Lee Child 1997 British English
51 Brave New World Aldous Huxley 1932 British English
4 The Catcher in the Rye J. D. Salinger 1951 American English
1159 Norwegian Wood Haruki Murakami 1987 Japanese Japanese
17008 Tripwire Lee Child 1999 British English
1967 The Virgin Suicides Jeffrey Eugenides 1993 American English
59 Rebecca Daphne du Maurier 1938 British English
17008 Die Trying Lee Child 1998 British English
980 It Stephen King 1986 American English
17 The Lord Of The Rings J. R. R. Tolkien 1959 English English
150 Fahrenheit 451 Ray Bradbury 1953 American English
398 The Shining Stephen King 1977 American English
569 American Psycho Bret Easton Ellis 1991 American English
17008 The Man With No Face Peter May 1981 British English
159 The Color Purple Alice Walker 1982 American English
14028 Dune Messiah Frank Herbert 1969 American English
3299 The Silmarillion J. R. R. Tolkien 1977 British English
190 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Douglas Adams 1979 British English
5 One Hundred Years of Solitude Gabriel García Márquez 1967 Colombian Spanish
49 Beloved Toni Morrison 1987 American English
1717 No Longer Human Osamu Dazai 1948 Japanese Japanese
189 And Then There Were None Agatha Christie 1939 British English
1289 A Game of Thrones George R. R. Martin 1996 American English
204 The Remains of the Day Kazuo Ishiguro 1989 British English
17008 Antarctica Claire Keegan 1999 Irish English
2228 The Man in the High Castle Philip K. Dick 1962 American English
5217 A Place Of Execution Val McDermid 1999 British English
33 Catch-22 Joseph Heller 1961 American English
1084 Misery Stephen King 1987 American English
14 Lolita Vladimir Nabokov 1955 American English
527 Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Philip K. Dick 1968 American English
1624 The Colour of Magic Terry Pratchett 1983 British English
165 Giovanni's Room James Baldwin 1956 American English
54 The Old Man and the Sea Ernest Hemingway 1952 American English
2911 The Woman In Black Susan Hill 1983 British English