The Greatest Books of All Time on Work

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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
66 The Metamorphosis Franz Kafka 1915 Czech German
203 A Confederacy of Dunces John Kennedy Toole 1980 American English
207 Zorba the Greek Nikos Kazantzakis 1946 Greek Greek
460 Bartleby the Scrivener Herman Melville 1853 American English
462 The Prophet Kahlil Gibran 1923 Lebanese English
492 The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists Robert Tressell, Peter Miles 1914 British English
508 Black Beauty Anna Sewell 1877 British English
565 Amerika Franz Kafka 1927 Czech German
572 Three Sisters Anton Chekhov 1901 Russian Russian
946 The Diary of a Nobody George Grossmith, Weedon Grossmith 1892 British English
958 The Periodic Table Primo Levi 1975 Italian Italian
980 News from Nowhere William Morris 1890 British English
1035 Uncle Vanya Anton Chekhov 1897 Russian Russian
1049 Works and Days Hesiod -700 Greek Ancient greek
1155 Three Lives Gertrude Stein 1909 American English
1216 Billy Liar Keith Waterhouse 1959 British English
1516 The People of Hemsö August Strindberg 1887 Swedish Swedish
1732 My Childhood Maxim Gorky 1913 Russian Russian
1763 Small Is Beautiful E. F. Schumacher 1973 British English
2090 Parkinson's Law C. Northcote Parkinson 1957 British English
2306 Stockholm series Per Anders Fogelström 1960 Swedish Swedish
2368 Brooklyn Colm Toibin 2009 Irish English
2418 Bright Lights, Big City Jay McInerney 1984 American English
2461 Lark Rise To Candleford Flora Thompson 1945 British English
2506 Pastoralia George Saunders 2000 American English
2561 The Human Condition Hannah Arendt 1958 German English
2660 The Women's Room Marilyn French 1977 American English
2680 Generation X Douglas Coupland 1991 Canadian English
2736 Severance Ling Ma 2018 American English
2784 North Of Boston Robert Frost 1914 American English
2828 A Manual For Cleaning Women Lucia Berlin 2015 American English
2848 Things Georges Perec 1965 French French
2885 The Busconductor Hines James Kelman 1984 British English
3005 The Monkey's Wrench Primo Levi 1978 Italian Italian
3034 Novel on Yellow Paper Stevie Smith 1936 British English
3230 Growing Up Absurd Paul Goodman 1960 American English
3317 The Kiss Quotient Helen Hoang 2018 Vietnamese English
3322 Post Office Charles Bukowski 1971 American English
3324 The Harvesters Cesare Pavese 1941 Italian Unknown
3374 A Man's Place Annie Ernaux 1983 French French
3625 The Lost Salt Gift Of Blood Alistair MacLeod 1976 Canadian English
3628 Convenience Store Woman Sayaka Murata 2016 Japanese Japanese
3638 The Assistant Robert Walser 1908 Swiss German
3918 Fences August Wilson 1985 American English
4089 Love and Rockets Gilbert Hernandez, Jaime Hernandez, Mario Hernandez 1982 American English
4154 Ankunft Im Alltag Brigitte Reimann 1961 German German
4215 The Beginning of Spring Penelope Fitzgerald 1988 British English
4310 The Odd Women George Gissing 1893 British English
4404 A Kind Of Loving Stan Barstow 1960 British English
4801 Home to Harlem Claude McKay 1928 American English
4874 Βιοτεχνία Υαλικών Menis Koumandareas 1976 Greek Greek
5113 The War Of Art Steven Pressfield 2002 American English
5355 New Hampshire Robert Frost 1923 American English
5475 Working Studs Terkel 1974 American English
5484 The Painter Of Signs R. K. Narayan 1976 Indian English
5824 Idylls Theocritus -260 Greek Ancient greek
5960 Microserfs Douglas Coupland 1995 Canadian English
6322 A Fortunate Life A. B. Facey 1981 Australian English
6323 Living Up The Street Gary Soto 1985 American English
6363 The Restraint Of Beasts Magnus Mills 1998 British English
6569 Nice Work David Lodge 1988 British English
6695 The Stories Of Breece D'j Pancake Breece D'J Pancake 1983 American English
8107 The Home Maker Dorothy Canfield Fisher 1924 American English
8198 A Daughter Of Han Ning Lao Tai-Tai, told to Ida Pruitt 1945 Chinese English
8247 Old Times On The Mississippi Mark Twain 1876 American English
8424 Coming Apart Charles Murray 2012 American English
8793 What Work Is Philip Levine 1991 American English
9231 El Traductor Salvador Benesdra 1998 Argentinian Spanish
9835 Poems Of Donald Hall Donald Hall 1975 American English
9849 A Midwife's Tale Laurel Thatcher Ulrich 1990 American English
9859 An Autobiography of Anthony Trollope Anthony Trollope 1883 British English
9859 A Week Like Any Other Natalya Baranskaya 1969 Russian Russian
10170 The Pale King David Foster Wallace 2011 American English
10747 Farm Hands Tom Rivers 2012 American English
10751 Selected Stories Robert Walser 1982 Swiss German
10773 Career And Family Claudia Goldin 2021 American English
11311 The Simple Truth Philip Levine 1994 American English
11392 The One Day Donald Hall 1988 American English
11581 The Last Of The Menu Girls Denise Chávez 1986 American English
11652 All Of Us Raymond Carver 1996 American English
11662 After The Music Stopped Alan S. Blinder 2013 American English
11662 Little Heathens Mildred Armstrong Kalish 2007 American English
11812 Rosie The Riveter Revisited Sherna Berger Gluck 1987 American English
12082 Shop Class As Soulcraft Matthew B. Crawford 2009 American English
12326 Preston Falls David Gates 1998 American English
13279 Marzahn, Mon Amour Katja Oskamp 2019 German German
13269 Working Class Women In The Academy Michelle M. Tokarczyk, Elizabeth A. Fay 1993 American English
13360 Burnout Emily Nagoski, Amelia Nagoski 2019 American English
13362 Past And Present Thomas Carlyle 1843 British English
13362 Night Shift Maritta Wolff 1942 American English
13600 The Fruits Of Winter Bernard Clavel 1968 French French
13879 Love Me Back Merritt Tierce 2014 American English
14232 Dart Alice Oswald 2002 British English
14493 The Early Stories John Updike 2003 American English
14667 Saville David Storey 1976 British English
14731 Farewell Companions James Plunkett 1977 Irish English
15686 The Days Run Away Like Wild Horses Over The Hills Charles Bukowski American English
15767 Kitty Foyle Christopher Morley 1939 American English
15802 Sweet Thursday John Steinbeck 1954 American English
15915 Memoirs Of A Medieval Woman Louise Collis 1964 British English
15915 Work Louisa May Alcott 1873 American English
16549 Akenfield Ronald Blythe 1969 American English
17161 Docherty William McIlvanney 1975 Scottish English
17161 Recollected Essays Wendell Berry 1981 American English
17161 Human Chain Seamus Heaney 2010 Irish English
17161 The New Animals Pip Adam 2017 New Zealander English
17161 The Deadman’s Pedal Alan Warner 2012 Scottish English
17161 Thomas And Beulah Rita Dove 1986 American English
17161 Blue Chip Black Karyn R. Lacy 2007 American English
17161 Memoirs Of A Peon Frank Sargeson 1965 New Zealand Unknown
17161 Intimate Apparel Lynn Nottage 2003 American English
17161 The Flick Annie Baker 2014 American English
17161 Anna In The Tropics Nilo Cruz 2003 American English
17161 Essential Labor Angela Garbes 2021 American English
17091 Little Town On The Prairie Laura Ingalls Wilder 1941 American English
17161 My Father's Fortune Michael Frayn 2010 British English
17161 How To Tell When You're Tired Reg Theriault 1995 American English
17054 The Islandman Tomás Ó Crohan 1929 Irish Irish
17161 Four Thousand Weeks Oliver Burkeman 2021 British English
17161 Dickens Peter Ackroyd 1990 British English