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

This is one of the 759 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
279 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
103 The Bell Jar Sylvia Plath 1963 American English
52 Lord of the Flies William Golding 1954 British English
389 The Alchemist Paulo Coelho 1988 Brazilian Portuguese
2223 Good Omens Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman 1990 British English
17152 Westwind Ian Rankin 1990 British English
17152 Rachel's Holiday Marian Keyes 1997 Irish English
170 Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck 1937 American English
1930 Killing Floor Lee Child 1997 British English
50 Brave New World Aldous Huxley 1932 British English
4 The Catcher in the Rye J. D. Salinger 1951 American English
1160 Norwegian Wood Haruki Murakami 1987 Japanese Japanese
17152 Tripwire Lee Child 1999 British English
1972 The Virgin Suicides Jeffrey Eugenides 1993 American English
59 Rebecca Daphne du Maurier 1938 British English
17152 Die Trying Lee Child 1998 British English
981 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
400 The Shining Stephen King 1977 American English
570 American Psycho Bret Easton Ellis 1991 American English
17152 The Man With No Face Peter May 1981 British English
157 The Color Purple Alice Walker 1982 American English
14089 Dune Messiah Frank Herbert 1969 American English
3305 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
1719 No Longer Human Osamu Dazai 1948 Japanese Japanese
191 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
17152 Antarctica Claire Keegan 1999 Irish English
2132 The Man in the High Castle Philip K. Dick 1962 American English
5226 A Place Of Execution Val McDermid 1999 British English
33 Catch-22 Joseph Heller 1961 American English
1086 Misery Stephen King 1987 American English
14 Lolita Vladimir Nabokov 1955 American English
528 Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Philip K. Dick 1968 American English
1626 The Colour of Magic Terry Pratchett 1983 British English
167 Giovanni's Room James Baldwin 1956 American English
54 The Old Man and the Sea Ernest Hemingway 1952 American English
2917 The Woman In Black Susan Hill 1983 British English