The Greatest Dark Humor Books of All Time

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This list represents a comprehensive and trusted collection of the greatest books. Developed through a specialized algorithm, it brings together 467 '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.

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Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
35 Catch-22 Joseph Heller 1961 American English
207 A Confederacy of Dunces John Kennedy Toole 1980 American English
283 Lucky Jim Kingsley Amis 1954 British English
286 Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas Hunter S. Thompson 1971 American English
332 Infinite Jest David Foster Wallace 1996 American English
366 White Noise Don DeLillo 1985 American English
560 The Third Policeman Flann O'Brien 1967 Irish English
624 Wise Blood Flannery O'Connor 1952 American English
645 Death on Credit Louis-Ferdinand Céline 1936 French French
700 Money Martin Amis 1984 British English
708 Cat's Cradle Kurt Vonnegut 1963 American English
765 Breakfast of Champions Kurt Vonnegut 1973 American English
778 Moravagine Blaise Cendrars 1926 Swiss French
835 The Sellout Paul Beatty 2015 American English
998 Lincoln in the Bardo George Saunders 2017 American English
1060 Miss Lonelyhearts Nathanael West 1933 American English
1433 Suttree Cormac McCarthy 1979 American English
1592 Fancies And Goodnights John Collier 1951 British English
1607 The Book of Laughter and Forgetting Milan Kundera 1979 Czech Czech
1685 Insatiability Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz 1930 Polish Polish
1937 Someone Like You Roald Dahl 1953 British English
2231 Pastoralia George Saunders 2000 American English
2248 No Laughing Matter Angus Wilson 1967 British English
2311 The Melancholy of Resistance László Krasznahorkai 1989 Hungarian Hungarian
2313 Cases Daniil Kharms 1939 Russian Russian
2339 Bad News Edward St Aubyn 1992 British English
2445 House Mother Normal B. S. Johnson 1971 British English
2457 Some Hope Edward St Aubyn 1994 British English
2556 Too Loud A Solitude Bohumil Hrabal 1976 Czech Czech
2572 The Butcher Boy Patrick McCabe 1992 Irish English
2579 The Fan Man William Kotzwinkle 1974 American English
2691 The Breast Philip Roth 1972 American English
2817 Geek Love Katherine Dunn 1989 American English
2897 Trainspotting Irvine Welsh 1993 Scottish English
2904 How Late It Was, How Late James Kelman 1994 Scottish English
2979 Tobacco Road Erskine Caldwell 1932 American English
3082 The Moscoviad Yuri Andrukhovych 1993 Ukrainian Ukrainian
3158 Bright Lights, Big City Jay McInerney 1984 American English
3233 My Year of Rest and Relaxation Ottessa Moshfegh 2018 American English
3266 The Parable of the Blind Gert Hofmann 1985 German German
3324 Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk Ben Fountain 2012 American English
3619 The Midnight Examiner William Kotzwinkle 1989 American English
4634 Something Happened Joseph Heller 1974 American English
4633 Do Everything in the Dark Gary Indiana 2003 American English
4845 The Complete Short Stories Of Ambrose Bierce Ambrose Bierce 1970 American English
4949 Good Behaviour Molly Keane 1981 Irish English
5255 The Complete Works of Nathanael West Nathanael West 1957 American English
5534 Please Don’t Call Me Human Wang Shuo 1991 Chinese Chinese
5585 My Sister, The Serial Killer Oyinkan Braithwaite 2018 Nigerian English
5588 Vernon God Little DBC Pierre 2003 British English
5590 By Bizarre Hands Joe R. Lansdale 1989 American English
5822 Erections, Ejaculations, Exhibitions, And General Tales Of Ordinary Madness Charles Bukowski 1972 American English
6165 Women Charles Bukowski 1978 American English
6463 Getting Into Death Thomas M. Disch 1973 American English
6573 Chronic City Jonathan Lethem 2009 American English
6962 An Oxcart For Dowry Wang Chen-ho 1988 Taiwanese Chinese
7365 Homesick for Another World Ottessa Moshfegh 2017 American English
8125 Slaughterhouse Five, Or The Children's Crusade Ryan North 1969 Unknown English
8360 Restaurant At The End Of The Universe Douglas Adams 1980 British English
8592 Jerome Jean-Pierre Martinet 1978 French French
8724 Portnoy's Compaint Philip Roth 1969 American English
8769 Mother Night Kurt Vonnegut 1961 American English
8815 Factotum Charles Bukowski 1975 American English
8817 John Dies At The End David Wong 2007 American English
8824 The Collected Short Stories Of Roald Dahl Roald Dahl 1991 British English
8837 The Living End Stanley Elkin 1979 American English
9034 Friday Black Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah 2018 American English
9339 Memories Of My Father Watching Tv Curtis White 1998 American English
9547 The Long Dark Tea Time Of The Soul Douglas Adams 1988 British English
10151 I’m Laughing Because I’m Crying Youngmi Mayer 2024 Unknown Unknown
10432 Hocus Pocus Kurt Vonnegut 1990 American English
10538 The Accidental Ali Smith 2005 British English
10569 Mailman J. Robert Lennon 2003 American English
10564 The Dinner Herman Koch 2009 Dutch Dutch
10707 Take It Or Leave It Raymond Federman 1976 American English
11099 How The Dead Live Will Self 2000 British English
11586 Haunted Chuck Palahniuk 2005 American English
11789 The Invented Part Rodrigo Fresán 2014 Argentinian Spanish
11885 Fox 8 George Saunders 2013 American English
11948 Going Native Stephen Wright 1994 American English
12505 Doctor Rat William Kotzwinkle 1976 American English
12933 CivilWarLand in Bad Decline George Saunders 1996 American English
13222 Visions Francisco de Quevedo 1627 Spanish Spanish
13222 A Cool Million Nathanael West 1934 American English
13645 Pop. 1280 Jim Thompson 1964 American English
13930 The Suicide Nikolai Erdman 1928 Russian Russian
14069 Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned Wells Tower 2009 American English
14069 Airships Barry Hannah 1978 American English
14069 Ray Barry Hannah 1980 American English
14069 The Glorious Heresies Lisa McInerney 2015 Irish English
14069 The Complete Plays Joe Orton 1976 British English
14069 Cruddy Lynda Barry 1999 American English
14069 Darkly Dreaming Dexter Jeff Lindsay 2004 American English
14069 Night They Missed The Horror Show Joe R. Lansdale 1988 American English
14069 God Of Carnage Yasmina Reza 2006 French French
14026 Black Comedy Peter Shaffer 1965 British English
14069 The Lieutenant Of Inishmore Martin McDonagh 2001 Irish English
14069 Lake Of Urine Guillermo Stitch 2020 British English
14069 The A26 Pascal Garnier 1999 French French
14069 Triomf Marlene van Niekerk 1994 South African Afrikaans
14069 Woman At 1000 Degrees Hallgrímur Helgason 2011 Icelandic Icelandic
14069 The Nazi And The Barber Edgar Hilsenrath 1971 German German