The Greatest Books of All Time on Aging

Click to learn how this list is calculated.

This list represents a comprehensive and trusted collection of the greatest books. Developed through a specialized algorithm, it brings together 759 'best of' book lists to form a definitive guide to the world's most acclaimed books. For those interested in how these books are chosen, additional details can be found on the rankings page.

View: List Grid Table
Filter by: Genres Dates Countries

Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
169 Love in the Time of Cholera Gabriel García Márquez 1985 Colombian Spanish
239 The Corrections Jonathan Franzen 2001 American English
236 Death in Venice Thomas Mann 1912 German German
268 Collected Poems of W. B. Yeats William Butler Yeats 1933 Irish English
391 The Old Wives' Tale Arnold Bennett 1908 British English
474 Embers Sandor Marai 1942 Hungarian Hungarian
597 The Years Annie Ernaux 2008 French French
784 Rabbit at Rest John Updike 1990 American English
1036 Uncle Vanya Anton Chekhov 1897 Russian Russian
1167 The Horse's Mouth Joyce Cary 1944 British English
1176 As A Man Grows Older Italo Svevo 1898 Italian Italian
1198 Light Years James Salter 1975 American English
1235 Cheri Colette 1920 French French
1242 The Life Before Us Romain Gary 1975 French French
1264 The Summer Book Tove Jansson 1972 Finnish Swedish
1286 Selected Stories of Alice Munro Alice Munro 1996 Canadian English
1354 Olive Kitteridge Elizabeth Strout 2008 American English
1427 The Country of the Pointed Firs Sarah Orne Jewett 1896 American English
1508 The Tower William Butler Yeats 1928 Irish English
1550 Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont Elizabeth Taylor 1971 British English
1698 The Stone Diaries Carol Shields 1993 Canadian English
1758 Sabbath's Theater Philip Roth 1995 American English
1772 The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne Brian Moore 1955 Irish English
1831 Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant Anne Tyler 1982 American English
1858 A Lost Lady Willa Cather 1923 American English
1905 The Diviners Margaret Laurence 1974 Canadian English
1986 The Sound of the Mountain Yasunari Kawabata 1954 Japanese Japanese
2010 The Notebook Nicholas Sparks 1996 American English
2027 Quartet in Autumn Barbara Pym 1977 British English
2125 Tell Me a Riddle Tillie Olsen 1961 American English
2218 The Sense of an Ending Julian Barnes 2011 British English
2237 The Twilight Years Sawako Ariyoshi 1972 Japanese Japanese
2325 Being Mortal Atul Gawande 2014 American English
2347 A Summons to Memphis Peter Taylor 1986 American English
2385 Viper’s Tangle François Mauriac 1932 French French
2387 Breathing Lessons Anne Tyler 1988 American English
2466 Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage Alice Munro 2001 Canadian English
2524 Old Filth Jane Gardam 2004 British English
2534 A Man Called Ove Fredrik Backman 2012 Swedish Swedish
2653 Sleepless Nights Elizabeth Hardwick 1979 American English
2803 The Old Devils Kingsley Amis 1986 British English
2839 The Stone Angel Margaret Laurence 1964 Canadian English
2859 A Ballad for Georg Henig Viktor Paskov 1987 Bulgarian Bulgarian
2972 Tuesdays With Morrie Mitch Albom 1997 American English
2996 Staying On Paul Scott 1977 British English
3072 Patrimony Philip Roth 1991 American English
3099 Diary Of A Mad Old Man Junichiro Tanizaki 1961 Japanese Japanese
3206 Travels With My Aunt Graham Greene 1969 British English
3315 The Afternoon of Monsieur Andesmas Marguerite Duras 1962 French French
3324 King Lear of the Steppes Ivan Turgenev 1870 Russian Russian
3324 Life and Death of Harriett Frean May Sinclair 1922 British English
3502 Family Matters Rohinton Mistry 2002 Canadian English
3533 An Unnecessary Woman Rabih Alameddine 2013 Lebanese English
3586 A Single Man Christopher Isherwood 1964 British English
3591 Do Everything in the Dark Gary Indiana 2003 American English
3617 The Farthest Shore Ursula K. Le Guin 1972 American English
3638 The Art Of Prolonging Life Christoph Wilhelm Hufeland 1842 German German
3912 Salt On Our Skin Benoîte Groult 1988 French French
3955 The Moonlight Sonata Yannis Ritsos 1956 Greek Greek
4147 Krapp's Last Tape Samuel Beckett 1958 Irish English
4299 Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe Fannie Flagg 1987 American English
4309 Mrs. Stevens Hears The Mermaids Singing May Sarton 1965 American English
4436 House Mother Normal B. S. Johnson 1971 British English
4481 The Private Papers Of Henry Ryecroft George Gissing 1903 British English
4492 All The Little Live Things Wallace Stegner 1967 American English
4518 When The Wind Blows Raymond Briggs 1982 British English
4594 Man in the Holocene Max Frisch 1979 Swiss German
4664 Building Stories Chris Ware 2012 American English
4718 The Old Man Who Read Love Stories Luis Sepúlveda 1989 Chilean Spanish
4789 Memento Mori Muriel Spark 1959 British English
4895 The Emissary Yoko Tawada 2014 Japanese Japanese
4928 The Poorhouse Fair John Updike 1959 American English
4941 The Buried Giant Kazuo Ishiguro 2015 British English
5031 Honored Guest Joy Williams 2004 American English
5034 I Feel Bad About My Neck Nora Ephron 2006 American English
5420 In the Heart of the Heart of the Country William H. Gass 1968 American English
5635 Pictures From Home Larry Sultan 1992 American English
5927 Go Went Gone Jenny Erpenbeck 2015 German German
5994 The Green Road Anne Enright 2015 Irish English
6004 A Love Affair Dino Buzzati 1963 Italian Italian
6460 Never Did The Fire Diamela Eltit 2022 Chilean Spanish
6489 Happy Are The Happy Yasmina Reza 2013 French French
6710 Ooga-Booga Frederick Seidel 2006 American English
6821 The Swimmer John Cheever 1964 American English
6868 Collected Poems Philip Larkin 1988 British English
6872 The Field of Vision Wright Morris 1956 American English
7135 Slow Man J. M. Coetzee 2005 South African English
7216 When We Dead Awaken Henrik Ibsen 1899 Norwegian Norwegian
7216 The Desert Of Love François Mauriac 1925 French French
7216 The Well Beloved Thomas Hardy 1897 British English
7216 The Fortnight In September R. C. Sherriff 1931 British English
7216 The Long View Elizabeth Jane Howard 1956 British English
7818 Sister Gin June Arnold 1975 American English
7829 Purple America Rick Moody 1997 American English
7940 The Book Of Ebenezer Le Page G. B. Edwards 1981 British English
8008 The Eye Of The Storm Patrick White 1973 Australian English
8078 The Thing About Life Is That One Day You'll Be Dead David Shields 2008 American English
8108 The Dangerous Age Karin Michaelis 1910 Danish Danish
8388 Our Souls At Night Kent Haruf 2015 American English
8394 Eventide Kent Haruf 2004 American English
8470 Ceremony In Lone Tree Wright Morris 1960 American English
8533 Tehanu Ursula K. Le Guin 1990 American English
8909 The Night Guest Fiona McFarlane 2013 Australian English
8988 Less Andrew Sean Greer 2017 American English
9049 The Romantic Comedians Ellen Glasgow 1926 American English
9070 Autumn Ali Smith 2016 British English
9094 Rock, Paper, Scissors And Other Stories Maxim Osipov 2019 Russian Russian
9113 The Heron Giorgio Bassani 1968 Italian Italian
9183 Bruno's Dream Iris Murdoch 1969 British English
9240 Tirra Lirra By The River Jessica Anderson 1978 Australian English
9260 Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant? Roz Chast 2014 American English
9743 Something I've Been Meaning To Tell You Alice Munro 1974 Canadian English
9833 Barney's Version Mordecai Richler 1997 Canadian English
9835 Poems Of Donald Hall Donald Hall 1975 American English
9903 Modern Lovers Emma Straub 2016 American English
9948 Joseph Marie-Hélène Lafon 2014 French French
10144 Poems Of Gavin Ewart Gavin Ewart 1978 British English
10192 Winter Journal Paul Auster 2012 American English
10225 Great Granny Webster Caroline Blackwood 1977 English English
10248 The Roman Spring Of Mrs. Stone Tennessee Williams 1950 American English