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
1733 My Childhood Maxim Gorky 1913 Russian Russian
1763 Small Is Beautiful E. F. Schumacher 1973 British English
2089 Parkinson's Law C. Northcote Parkinson 1957 British English
2305 Stockholm series Per Anders Fogelström 1960 Swedish Swedish
2366 Brooklyn Colm Toibin 2009 Irish English
2416 Bright Lights, Big City Jay McInerney 1984 American English
2459 Lark Rise To Candleford Flora Thompson 1945 British English
2504 Pastoralia George Saunders 2000 American English
2560 The Human Condition Hannah Arendt 1958 German English
2659 The Women's Room Marilyn French 1977 American English
2679 Generation X Douglas Coupland 1991 Canadian English
2735 Severance Ling Ma 2018 American English
2783 North Of Boston Robert Frost 1914 American English
2826 A Manual For Cleaning Women Lucia Berlin 2015 American English
2845 Things Georges Perec 1965 French French
2884 The Busconductor Hines James Kelman 1984 British English
3004 The Monkey's Wrench Primo Levi 1978 Italian Italian
3033 Novel on Yellow Paper Stevie Smith 1936 British English
3230 Growing Up Absurd Paul Goodman 1960 American English
3318 The Kiss Quotient Helen Hoang 2018 Vietnamese English
3323 Post Office Charles Bukowski 1971 American English
3325 The Harvesters Cesare Pavese 1941 Italian Unknown
3375 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
3919 Fences August Wilson 1985 American English
4088 Love and Rockets Gilbert Hernandez, Jaime Hernandez, Mario Hernandez 1982 American English
4153 Ankunft Im Alltag Brigitte Reimann 1961 German German
4214 The Beginning of Spring Penelope Fitzgerald 1988 British English
4309 The Odd Women George Gissing 1893 British English
4403 A Kind Of Loving Stan Barstow 1960 British English
4800 Home to Harlem Claude McKay 1928 American English
4873 Βιοτεχνία Υαλικών Menis Koumandareas 1976 Greek Greek
5111 The War Of Art Steven Pressfield 2002 American English
5354 New Hampshire Robert Frost 1923 American English
5474 Working Studs Terkel 1974 American English
5483 The Painter Of Signs R. K. Narayan 1976 Indian English
5822 Idylls Theocritus -260 Greek Ancient greek
5958 Microserfs Douglas Coupland 1995 Canadian English
6320 A Fortunate Life A. B. Facey 1981 Australian English
6321 Living Up The Street Gary Soto 1985 American English
6361 The Restraint Of Beasts Magnus Mills 1998 British English
6568 Nice Work David Lodge 1988 British English
6695 The Stories Of Breece D'j Pancake Breece D'J Pancake 1983 American English
8105 The Home Maker Dorothy Canfield Fisher 1924 American English
8196 A Daughter Of Han Ning Lao Tai-Tai, told to Ida Pruitt 1945 Chinese English
8245 Old Times On The Mississippi Mark Twain 1876 American English
8422 Coming Apart Charles Murray 2012 American English
8790 What Work Is Philip Levine 1991 American English
9230 El Traductor Salvador Benesdra 1998 Argentinian Spanish
9833 Poems Of Donald Hall Donald Hall 1975 American English
9847 A Midwife's Tale Laurel Thatcher Ulrich 1990 American English
9857 An Autobiography of Anthony Trollope Anthony Trollope 1883 British English
9857 A Week Like Any Other Natalya Baranskaya 1969 Russian Russian
10167 The Pale King David Foster Wallace 2011 American English
10744 Farm Hands Tom Rivers 2012 American English
10748 Selected Stories Robert Walser 1982 Swiss German
10770 Career And Family Claudia Goldin 2021 American English
11308 The Simple Truth Philip Levine 1994 American English
11390 The One Day Donald Hall 1988 American English
11580 The Last Of The Menu Girls Denise Chávez 1986 American English
11651 All Of Us Raymond Carver 1996 American English
11661 After The Music Stopped Alan S. Blinder 2013 American English
11661 Little Heathens Mildred Armstrong Kalish 2007 American English
11811 Rosie The Riveter Revisited Sherna Berger Gluck 1987 American English
12081 Shop Class As Soulcraft Matthew B. Crawford 2009 American English
12324 Preston Falls David Gates 1998 American English
13276 Marzahn, Mon Amour Katja Oskamp 2019 German German
13266 Working Class Women In The Academy Michelle M. Tokarczyk, Elizabeth A. Fay 1993 American English
13357 Burnout Emily Nagoski, Amelia Nagoski 2019 American English
13359 Past And Present Thomas Carlyle 1843 British English
13359 Night Shift Maritta Wolff 1942 American English
13599 The Fruits Of Winter Bernard Clavel 1968 French French
13878 Love Me Back Merritt Tierce 2014 American English
14232 Dart Alice Oswald 2002 British English
14492 The Early Stories John Updike 2003 American English
14666 Saville David Storey 1976 British English
14730 Farewell Companions James Plunkett 1977 Irish English
15680 The Days Run Away Like Wild Horses Over The Hills Charles Bukowski American English
15788 Sweet Thursday John Steinbeck 1954 American English
15765 Kitty Foyle Christopher Morley 1939 American English
15899 Memoirs Of A Medieval Woman Louise Collis 1964 British English
15899 Work Louisa May Alcott 1873 American English
16532 Akenfield Ronald Blythe 1969 American English
17120 Docherty William McIlvanney 1975 Scottish English
17120 Recollected Essays Wendell Berry 1981 American English
17120 Human Chain Seamus Heaney 2010 Irish English
17120 The New Animals Pip Adam 2017 New Zealander English
17120 The Deadman’s Pedal Alan Warner 2012 Scottish English
17120 Thomas And Beulah Rita Dove 1986 American English
17120 Blue Chip Black Karyn R. Lacy 2007 American English
17120 Memoirs Of A Peon Frank Sargeson 1965 New Zealand Unknown
17120 Intimate Apparel Lynn Nottage 2003 American English
17120 The Flick Annie Baker 2014 American English
17120 Anna In The Tropics Nilo Cruz 2003 American English
17120 Essential Labor Angela Garbes 2021 American English
17052 Little Town On The Prairie Laura Ingalls Wilder 1941 American English
17120 My Father's Fortune Michael Frayn 2010 British English
17120 How To Tell When You're Tired Reg Theriault 1995 American English
17021 The Islandman Tomás Ó Crohan 1929 Irish Irish
17120 Four Thousand Weeks Oliver Burkeman 2021 British English
17120 Dickens Peter Ackroyd 1990 British English