The Greatest Postmodern Books Since 1980

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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.

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Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
64 Midnight's Children Salman Rushdie 1981 Indian English
99 The Unbearable Lightness of Being Milan Kundera 1984 Czech Czech
114 The Name of the Rose Umberto Eco 1980 Italian Italian
200 The Book of Disquiet Fernando Pessoa 1982 Portuguese Portuguese
203 A Confederacy of Dunces John Kennedy Toole 1980 American English
232 2666 Roberto Bolaño 2004 Chilean Spanish
262 Austerlitz W. G. Sebald 2001 German German
314 The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay Michael Chabon 2000 American English
333 Infinite Jest David Foster Wallace 1996 American English
355 The Savage Detectives Roberto Bolaño 1998 Chilean Spanish
364 White Noise Don DeLillo 1985 American English
396 The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao Junot Diaz 2007 Dominican English
411 Underworld Don DeLillo 1997 American English
420 The Human Stain Philip Roth 2000 American English
421 A Visit From The Goon Squad Jennifer Egan 2010 American English
427 Cloud Atlas David Mitchell 2004 British English
452 A Heart So White Javier Marias 1992 Spanish Spanish
473 The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle Haruki Murakami 1994 Japanese Japanese
534 Satanic Verses Salman Rushdie 1988 British English
545 The Notebook, The Proof, The Third Lie Agota Kristof 1986 Hungarian French
570 American Psycho Bret Easton Ellis 1991 American English
607 House of Leaves Mark Z. Danielewski 2000 American English
628 Nights At The Circus Angela Carter 1984 British English
657 The Elementary Particles Michel Houellebecq 1998 French French
697 The Rings of Saturn W. G. Sebald 1995 German German
718 Possession A. S. Byatt 1990 British English
750 Money Martin Amis 1984 British English
804 The Vegetarian Han Kang 2007 Korean Korean
808 Watchmen Alan Moore 1986 American, British English
869 Woodcutters Thomas Bernhard 1984 Austrian German
874 The Last Samurai Helen DeWitt 2000 American English
893 Neuromancer William Gibson 1984 American, Canadian English
910 The New York Trilogy Paul Auster 1985 American English
922 The Sympathizer Viet Thanh Nguyen 2015 American English
968 Jesus' Son Denis Johnson 1992 American English
971 The Discovery of Heaven Harry Mulisch 1992 Dutch Dutch
988 Flaubert's Parrot Julian Barnes 1984 British English
1022 Lincoln in the Bardo George Saunders 2017 American English
1079 The Book of the New Sun Gene Wolfe 1980 American English
1095 The Swimming-Pool Library Alan Hollinghurst 1988 British English
1106 The Passion Jeanette Winterson 1987 British English
1154 True History of the Kelly Gang Peter Carey 2000 Australian English
1166 Lanark Alasdair Gray 1981 Scottish English
1173 Little, Big John Crowley 1981 American English
1200 Mating Norman Rush 1991 American English
1201 Kafka On The Shore Haruki Murakami 2002 Japanese Japanese
1210 The Wasp Factory Iain Banks 1984 British English
1217 Foucault's Pendulum Umberto Eco 1988 Italian Italian
1242 The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis José Saramago 1984 Portuguese Portuguese
1261 The Blind Assassin Margaret Atwood 2000 Canadian English
1271 Extinction Thomas Bernhard 1986 Austrian German
1272 Erasure Percival Everett 2001 American English
1325 A Far Cry From Kensington Muriel Spark 1988 British English
1348 Sandman Neil Gaiman 1989 British English
1373 Winter's Tale Mark Helprin 1983 American English
1374 Earthly Powers Anthony Burgess 1980 British English
1394 Soldiers of Salamis Javier Cercas 2001 Spanish Spanish
1411 Concrete Thomas Bernhard 1982 Austrian German
1443 Mason & Dixon Thomas Pynchon 1997 American English
1456 Flights Olga Tokarczuk 2007 Polish Polish
1472 The Beauty Of The Husband Anne Carson 2001 Canadian English
1551 Hawksmoor Peter Ackroyd 1985 British English
1552 Waterland Graham Swift 1983 British English
1554 The Unconsoled Kazuo Ishiguro 1995 British English
1565 A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again David Foster Wallace 1997 American English
1597 Snow Crash Neal Stephenson 1992 American English
1619 Nostalgia Mircea Cărtărescu 1989 Romanian Romanian
1674 London Fields Martin Amis 1989 British English
1704 Celestial Harmonies Peter Esterhazy 2000 Hungarian Hungarian
1709 The Club Dumas Arturo Pérez-Reverte 1993 Spanish Spanish
1715 The Clay Machine-gun Victor Pelevin 1996 Russian Russian
1723 1Q84 Haruki Murakami 2009 Japanese Japanese
1745 Couples, Passersby Botho Strauß 1981 German German
1758 Sabbath's Theater Philip Roth 1995 American English
1783 A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius Dave Eggers 2000 American English
1797 Texaco Patrick Chamoiseau 1992 Martinican French
1829 To The Friend Who Did Not Save My Life Hervé Guibert 1990 French French
1835 Sophie's World Jostein Gaarder 1991 Norwegian Norwegian
1886 Poems, New And Collected, 1957 1997 Wislawa Szymborska 1998 Polish Polish
1898 Tenth of December George Saunders 2013 American English
1907 Consider The Lobster David Foster Wallace 2005 American English
1909 The Collected Stories Of Lydia Davis Lydia Davis 2009 American English
1912 World's End T. C. Boyle 1987 American English
1937 Geek Love Katherine Dunn 1989 American English
1989 Your Face Tomorrow Javier Marias 2002 Spanish Spanish
2001 The Flamethrowers Rachel Kushner 2013 American English
2017 Riddley Walker Russell Hoban 1980 British English
2023 Elizabeth Costello J. M. Coetzee 2003 South African English
2028 The Land Of Laughs Jonathan Carroll 1980 American English
2057 Sixty Stories Donald Barthelme 1981 American English
2061 The Last World Christoph Ransmayr 1988 Austrian German
2082 Santa Evita Tomás Eloy Martínez 1995 Argentinian Spanish
2084 Fight Club Chuck Palahniuk 1996 American English
2113 The Luminous Novel Mario Levrero 2005 Uruguayan Spanish
2114 All Souls' Day Cees Nooteboom 1998 Dutch Dutch
2159 Soul and Other Stories Andrey Platonov 1999 Russian Russian
2166 Morvern Callar Alan Warner 1995 Scottish English
2192 American Gods Neil Gaiman 2001 British English
2208 Trainspotting Irvine Welsh 1993 Scottish English
2218 The Sense of an Ending Julian Barnes 2011 British English
2224 My Year of Rest and Relaxation Ottessa Moshfegh 2018 American English
2226 Operation Shylock Philip Roth 1993 American English
2257 A History Of The World In 10 1/2 Chapters Julian Barnes 1989 British English
2287 The History of the Siege of Lisbon José Saramago 1989 Portuguese Portuguese
2290 Arcadia Tom Stoppard 1993 British English
2310 Sexing the Cherry Jeanette Winterson 1989 British English
2311 Solenoid Mircea Cărtărescu 2015 Romanian Romanian
2321 Rituals Cees Nooteboom 1980 Dutch Dutch
2324 The Sixty Five Years Of Washington Juan José Saer 1983 Argentine Spanish
2326 What a Carve Up! Jonathan Coe 1994 British English
2335 How to be both Ali Smith 2014 British English
2336 Libra Don DeLillo 1988 American English
2341 Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth Chris Ware 2000 American English
2351 The Salt Eaters Toni Cade Bambara 1980 American English
2360 Bartleby & Co Enrique Vila-Matas 2000 Spanish Spanish
2368 The Arcades Project Walter Benjamin 1982 German German
2385 Less Than Zero Bret Easton Ellis 1985 American English
2393 Satantango László Krasznahorkai 1985 Hungarian Hungarian
2407 Lust Elfriede Jelinek 1989 Austrian German
2413 Loitering With Intent Muriel Spark 1981 British English