The Greatest Experimental and Social & Cultural Fiction 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 488 '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
2 Ulysses James Joyce 1922 Irish English
50 Journey to the End of The Night Louis-Ferdinand Céline 1932 French French
87 The Golden Notebook Doris May Lessing 1962 British English
106 The Man Without Qualities Robert Musil 1930 Austrian German
211 Franz Kafka Franz Kafka 1971 Czech Unknown
228 Death of Virgil Hermann Broch 1945 Austrian German
239 Berlin Alexanderplatz Alfred Döblin 1929 German German
240 Tropic of Cancer Henry Miller 1934 American English
327 Gravity's Rainbow Thomas Pynchon 1973 American English
442 A Visit From The Goon Squad Jennifer Egan 2010 American English
619 The Recognitions William Gaddis 1955 American English
661 Death on Credit Louis-Ferdinand Céline 1936 French French
862 Speedboat Renata Adler 1976 American English
894 The Sleepwalkers Hermann Broch 1932 Austrian German
934 Cane Jean Toomer 1923 American English
1038 The New York Trilogy Paul Auster 1985 American English
1106 Murphy Samuel Beckett 1938 Irish English
1180 Three Lives Gertrude Stein 1909 American English
1263 All about H. Hatterr G. V. Desani 1948 Indian English
1300 Lanark Alasdair Gray 1981 Scottish English
1583 Childhood Nathalie Sarraute 1983 French French
1658 Concrete Thomas Bernhard 1982 Austrian German
1698 Insatiability Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz 1930 Polish Polish
1848 Soul Mountain Xingjian Gao 1990 Chinese Chinese
1907 Chevengur Andrey Platonov 1928 Russian Russian
1969 Nostalgia Mircea Cărtărescu 1989 Romanian Romanian
1988 The Clay Machine-gun Victor Pelevin 1996 Russian Russian
2146 Marks of Identity Juan Goytisolo 1966 Spanish Spanish
2146 The Vice-Consul Marguerite Duras 1966 French French
2617 Bartleby & Co Enrique Vila-Matas 2000 Spanish Spanish
3381 House Of Hunger Dambudzo Marechera 1978 Zimbabwean English
3721 Chapel Road Louis-Paul Boon 1953 Belgian Dutch
4063 Owls Do Cry Janet Frame 1957 New Zealand English
4277 Ideas Multatuli 1862 Dutch Dutch
4431 Building Stories Chris Ware 2012 American English
4483 Happy Moscow Andrey Platonov 1991 Russian Russian
4613 The Museum of Unconditional Surrender Dubravka Ugrešić 1997 Croatian Croatian
4746 A Dictionary Of Maqiao Han Shaogong 1996 Chinese Chinese
4763 Murke's Collected Silences Heinrich Böll 1955 German German
4869 The Aesthetics Of Resistance Peter Weiss 1975 German German
5629 In the Heart of the Heart of the Country William H. Gass 1968 American English
6020 Never Did The Fire Diamela Eltit 2022 Chilean Spanish
6690 Simion Liftnicul Petru Cimpoeșu 2001 Romanian Romanian
6804 The Planetarium Nathalie Sarraute 1959 French French
7094 White Girls Hilton Als 2013 American English
7892 Tram 83 Fiston Mwanza Mujila 2014 Congolese French
8062 Sudden Death Alvaro Enrigue 2013 Mexican Spanish
8639 The Naked Year Boris Pilnyak 1922 Russian Russian
8966 Quiet Days In Clichy And The World Of Sex Henry Miller 1956 American English
9592 The Ticket That Exploded William S. Burroughs 1962 American English
10002 Aus Der Zuckerfabrik Dorothee Elmiger 2020 Swiss German
10549 Omensetter's Luck William H. Gass 1966 American English
12415 I, etcetera Susan Sontag 1978 American English
12698 My Work Olga Ravn 2023 Danish Danish
12936 A Girl Is A Half Formed Thing Eimear McBride 2013 Irish English
12961 Hotel World Ali Smith 2001 British English
13110 Hopeful Monsters Nicholas Mosley 1990 British English
14371 A Change Of Skin Carlos Fuentes 1967 Mexican Spanish
14371 The Game Of Forgetting Mohammed Berrada 1987 Moroccan Arabic
14371 The Circle Of Reason Amitav Ghosh 1986 Indian English
14371 Apostoloff Sibylle Lewitscharoff 2009 German German