Literary Prize
TIME 100 Best Novels Winners
Among the most respected prizes in its category, this award has a strong track record of recognising literature that endures beyond its year of publication. Its shortlists and winners provide a reliable guide to the field's most important works.
101 winners ranked
Top Countries
All Winners
#1
literary-fiction
Midnight's Children
Salman Rushdie· 1981
★Nobel Prize in Literature★Booker Prize
Editorial Score100/100
#2
literary-fiction
The Tin Drum
Günter Grass· 1999
★Nobel Prize in Literature
Editorial Score98/100
#3
literary-fiction
The Grapes of Wrath
John Steinbeck· 1962
★Nobel Prize in Literature
Editorial Score90/100
#4
literary-fiction
Beloved
Toni Morrison· 1993
★Nobel Prize in Literature
Editorial Score85/100
#5
literary-fiction
The Trial
Franz Kafka· 1963
★Nobel Prize in Literature
Editorial Score80/100
#6
literary-fiction
Invisible Man
Ralph Ellison· 1952
★Nobel Prize in Literature
Editorial Score79/100
#7
literary-fiction
The Sound and the Fury
William Faulkner· 1949
★Nobel Prize in Literature
Editorial Score78/100
#8
literary-fiction
Mrs Dalloway
Virginia Woolf· 1925
★Nobel Prize in Literature
Editorial Score78/100
#9
literary-fiction
To Kill a Mockingbird
Harper Lee· 1961
★Pulitzer Prize
Editorial Score78/100
#10
literary-fiction
Humboldt's Gift
Saul Bellow· 1976
★Pulitzer Prize
Editorial Score70/100
#11
literary-fiction
The Adventures of Augie March
Saul Bellow· 1954
★National Book Award
Editorial Score70/100
#12
biography-memoir
The Executioner's Song
Norman Mailer· 1980
★Pulitzer Prize
Editorial Score66/100
#13
science-fiction
1984
George Orwell· 1949
TIME 100 Best NovelsBBC Big Read
Editorial Score55/100
#14
literary-fiction
Catch-22
Joseph Heller· 1961
TIME 100 Best NovelsBBC Big Read
Editorial Score54/100
#15
classic-literature
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
James Joyce· 1916
Editorial Score51/100
#16
literary-fiction
The Power and the Glory
Graham Greene· 1940
TIME 100 Best Novels
Editorial Score47/100
#17
science-fiction
Slaughterhouse-Five
Kurt Vonnegut· 1969
TIME 100 Best Novels
Editorial Score46/100
#18
literary-fiction
Their Eyes Were Watching God
Zora Neale Hurston· 1937
TIME 100 Best Novels
Editorial Score46/100
#19
literary-fiction
Of Human Bondage
W. Somerset Maugham· 1915
TIME 100 Best Novels
Editorial Score46/100
#20
literary-fiction
Native Son
Richard Wright· 1940
TIME 100 Best Novels
Editorial Score45/100
#21
literary-fiction
Pale Fire
Vladimir Nabokov· 1962
TIME 100 Best Novels
Editorial Score45/100
#22
literary-fiction
Wide Sargasso Sea
Jean Rhys· 1966
TIME 100 Best Novels
Editorial Score45/100
#23
literary-fiction
The Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald· 1925
TIME 100 Best Novels
Editorial Score44/100
#24
science-fiction
Brave New World
Aldous Huxley· 1932
TIME 100 Best Novels
Editorial Score44/100
#25
literary-fiction
Lolita
Vladimir Nabokov· 1955
TIME 100 Best Novels
Editorial Score44/100
#26
literary-fiction
Blood Meridian
Cormac McCarthy· 1985
TIME 100 Best Novels
Editorial Score44/100
#27
literary-fiction
Gravity's Rainbow
Thomas Pynchon· 1973
TIME 100 Best Novels
Editorial Score44/100
#28
science-fiction
Stranger in a Strange Land
Robert A. Heinlein· 1961
TIME 100 Best Novels
Editorial Score44/100
#29
literary-fiction
The Sun Also Rises
Ernest Hemingway· 1926
TIME 100 Best Novels
Editorial Score43/100
#30
literary-fiction
Herzog
Saul Bellow· 1964
TIME 100 Best Novels
Editorial Score43/100
#31
literary-fiction
Lord of the Flies
William Golding· 1954
TIME 100 Best Novels
Editorial Score42/100
#32
literary-fiction
A Farewell to Arms
Ernest Hemingway· 1929
TIME 100 Best Novels
Editorial Score42/100
#33
literary-fiction
Portnoy's Complaint
Philip Roth· 1969
TIME 100 Best Novels
Editorial Score42/100
#34
literary-fiction
Under the Volcano
Malcolm Lowry· 1947
TIME 100 Best Novels
Editorial Score42/100
#35
science-fiction
I, Robot
Isaac Asimov· 1950
TIME 100 Best Novels
Editorial Score42/100
#36
literary-fiction
The Catcher in the Rye
J.D. Salinger· 1951
TIME 100 Best Novels
Editorial Score41/100
#37
literary-fiction
On the Road
Jack Kerouac· 1957
TIME 100 Best Novels
Editorial Score41/100
#38
literary-fiction
The Moviegoer
Walker Percy· 1961
TIME 100 Best Novels
Editorial Score41/100
#39
science-fiction
Foundation
Isaac Asimov· 1951
TIME 100 Best Novels
Editorial Score41/100
#40
science-fiction
2001: A Space Odyssey
Arthur C. Clarke· 1968
TIME 100 Best Novels
Editorial Score41/100
#41
science-fiction
The Martian Chronicles
Ray Bradbury· 1950
TIME 100 Best Novels
Editorial Score41/100
#42
science-fiction
Fahrenheit 451
Ray Bradbury· 1953
TIME 100 Best Novels
Editorial Score40/100
#43
science-fiction
The Time Machine
H.G. Wells· 1895
TIME 100 Best Novels
Editorial Score40/100
#44
science-fiction
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Philip K. Dick· 1968
TIME 100 Best Novels
Editorial Score40/100
#45
science-fiction
Childhood's End
Arthur C. Clarke· 1953
TIME 100 Best Novels
Editorial Score39/100
#46
science-fiction
Ubik
Philip K. Dick· 1969
TIME 100 Best Novels
Editorial Score39/100
#47
science-fiction
A Scanner Darkly
Philip K. Dick· 1977
TIME 100 Best Novels
Editorial Score39/100
#48
science-fiction
Solaris
Stanisław Lem· 1961
TIME 100 Best Novels
Editorial Score39/100
#49
science-fiction
The War of the Worlds
H.G. Wells· 1898
TIME 100 Best Novels
Editorial Score38/100
#50
science-fiction
The Stars My Destination
Alfred Bester· 1956
TIME 100 Best Novels
Editorial Score38/100
#51
science-fiction
The Man in the High Castle
Philip K. Dick· 1962
TIME 100 Best Novels
Editorial Score36/100
#52
science-fiction
More Than Human
Theodore Sturgeon· 1953
TIME 100 Best Novels
Editorial Score36/100
#53
literary-fiction
The Palace of Dreams
Ismail Kadare· 1981
Editorial Score30/100
#54
mystery-thriller
The Tunnel
Ernesto Sabato· 1948
Editorial Score30/100
#55
poetry
The Call of the Ploughmen
Hovhannes Shiraz· 1950
Editorial Score30/100
#56
literary-fiction
The Scents of Marie-Claire
Mohamed Abdul-Malik· 2001
Editorial Score30/100
#57
classic-literature
The Sorrow of Belgium
Hugo Claus· 1983
Editorial Score30/100
#58
literary-fiction
The Hour of the Star
Clarice Lispector· 1977
Editorial Score30/100
#59
literary-fiction
Fifth Business
Robertson Davies· 1970
Editorial Score30/100
#60
classic-literature
The Obscene Bird of Night
José Donoso· 1970
Editorial Score30/100
#61
classic-literature
El Moto
Joaquín García Monge· 1900
Editorial Score30/100
#62
poetry
Poetry of Roque Dalton
Roque Dalton· 1969
Editorial Score30/100
#63
classic-literature
The Charterhouse of Parma
Stendhal· 1839
Editorial Score30/100
#64
literary-fiction
Nectar in a Sieve
Kamala Markandaya· 1954
Editorial Score30/100
#65
historical-fiction
The Leopard
Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa· 1958
Editorial Score30/100
#66
short-stories
Rashomon and Other Stories
Ryunosuke Akutagawa· 1915
Editorial Score30/100
#67
science-fiction
The Day Lasts More Than a Hundred Years
Chingiz Aitmatov· 1980
Editorial Score30/100
#68
poetry
The Malagasy Way
Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo· 1934
Editorial Score30/100
#69
historical-fiction
Pirey
Petre M. Andreevski· 1980
Editorial Score30/100
#70
literary-fiction
The Madwoman of the House
Gabriel Casaccia· 1955
Editorial Score30/100
#71
classic-literature
Noli Me Tangere
José Rizal· 1887
Editorial Score30/100
#72
classic-literature
The Lusiads
Luís de Camões· 1572
Editorial Score30/100
#73
classic-literature
The Moromete Family
Marin Preda· 1955
Editorial Score30/100
#74
historical-fiction
God's Bits of Wood
Ousmane Sembène· 1960
Editorial Score30/100
#75
classic-literature
The Equestrian Statue
Ladislav Mňačko· 1964
Editorial Score30/100
#76
classic-literature
Cry, the Beloved Country
Alan Paton· 1948
Editorial Score30/100
#77
literary-fiction
Our Twisted Hero
Yi Mun-yol· 1987
Editorial Score30/100
#78
literary-fiction
Crystal Boys
Pai Hsien-yung· 1983
Editorial Score30/100
#79
historical-fiction
Letters from Thailand
Botan· 1969
Editorial Score30/100
#80
history
The Shadow of Imana: Travels in the Heart of Rwanda
Boubacar Boris Diop· 2000
Editorial Score30/100
#81
classic-literature
A House for Mr Biswas
V.S. Naipaul· 1961
Editorial Score30/100
#82
literary-fiction
Abyssinian Chronicles
Moses Isegawa· 1998
Editorial Score30/100
#83
science-fiction
A Clockwork Orange
Anthony Burgess· 1962
Editorial Score30/100
#84
history
Open Veins of Latin America
Eduardo Galeano· 1971
Editorial Score30/100
#85
classic-literature
The Tale of Kieu
Nguyễn Du· 1820
Editorial Score30/100
#86
historical-fiction
The Handsome Jew
Ali Al-Muqri· 2009
Editorial Score30/100
#87
poetry
The Arrivants: A New World Trilogy
Kamau Brathwaite· 1973
Editorial Score30/100
#88
poetry
Cântico da Manhã Futura
Ovídio Martins· 1986
Editorial Score30/100
#89
biography-memoir
The African Child
Camara Laye· 1953
Editorial Score30/100
#90
poetry
The Crocodile's Tears
Fernando Sylvan· 1975
Editorial Score30/100
#91
literary-fiction
Ekomo
María Nsue Angüe· 1985
Editorial Score30/100
#92
classic-literature
The Grass is Singing
Doris Lessing· 1950
Editorial Score30/100
#93
literary-fiction
La vie et demie
Sony Labou Tansi· 1979
Editorial Score30/100
#94
classic-literature
Palace of the Peacock
Wilson Harris· 1960
Editorial Score30/100
#95
politics-society
The Rope of Tradition
Julian Aguon· 2005
Editorial Score30/100
#96
literary-fiction
The Mountain
Drusilla Modjeska· 2012
Editorial Score30/100
#97
literary-fiction
Black Rainbow
Albert Wendt· 1992
Editorial Score30/100
#98
religion-spirituality
Amoris Laetitia
Pope Francis· 2016
Editorial Score30/100
#99
historical-fiction
Ragtime
E.L. Doctorow· 1975
TIME 100 Best Novels
Editorial Score21/100
#100
historical-fiction
The Stars Are Fire
Anita Shreve· 2017
TIME 100 Best Novels
Editorial Score19/100
#101
science-fiction
The Invisible Man
H.G. Wells· 1897
TIME 100 Best Novels
Editorial Score13/100
Browse Other Prizes
Nobel Prize in LiteraturePulitzer PrizeBooker PrizeNational Book AwardHugo AwardNebula AwardEdgar AwardBram Stoker AwardCarnegie MedalWomen's Prize for FictionNewbery MedalCaldecott MedalPEN/Faulkner AwardJames Beard Book AwardCosta Book AwardNYT Best SellersGuardian 100 Best NovelsBBC Big ReadGoodreads Choice AwardOprah's Book ClubAmazon Editors' PickBook of the MonthALA Notable BooksEisner Award