The Modern Library's 100 Best Novels of All Time

The editors of The Modern Library were privileged to have the assistance of a distinguished Board made up of celebrated authors, historians, critics, and publishing luminaries. In 1998 and 1999, members of the Modern Library Board participated in the “100 Best” project, voting on the 100 Best Novels and 100 Best Non-fiction works, respectively.

100 books · 52 in the collection · Original list

  1. UlyssesJames Joyce · 1920
  2. The Great GatsbyF. Scott Fitzgerald · 1925
  3. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young ManJames Joyce · 1916
  4. LolitaVladimir Nabokov · 1955
  5. Brave New WorldAldous Huxley · 1930
  6. The Sound and the FuryWilliam Faulkner · 1929
  7. Catch-22Joseph Heller · 1961
  8. Darkness at NoonArthur Koestler · not in the collection
  9. Sons and LoversD.H. Lawrence · 1864
  10. The Grapes of WrathJohn Steinbeck · 1939
  11. Under the VolcanoMalcolm Lowry · 1947
  12. The Way of All FleshSamuel Butler · not in the collection
  13. Nineteen Eighty-FourGeorge Orwell · 1948
  14. I, ClaudiusRobert Graves · 1934
  15. To the LighthouseVirginia Woolf · 1925
  16. An American TragedyTheodore Dreiser · not in the collection
  17. The Heart is a Lonely HunterCarson McCullers · 1940
  18. Slaughterhouse-FiveKurt Vonnegut · 1969
  19. Invisible ManRalph Ellison · 1952
  20. Native SonRichard Wright · 1940
  21. Henderson the Rain KingSaul Bellow · not in the collection
  22. Appointment in SamarraJohn O’Hara · not in the collection
  23. U.S.A. (Trilogy)John Dos Passos · not in the collection
  24. Winesburg, OhioSherwood Anderson · not in the collection
  25. A Passage to IndiaE. M. Forster · 1924
  26. The Wings of the DoveHenry James · 1902
  27. The AmbassadorsHenry James · 1903
  28. Tender Is the NightF. Scott Fitzgerald · 1933
  29. The Studs Lonigan TrilogyJames T. Farrell · not in the collection
  30. The Good SoldierFord Madox Ford · 1915
  31. Animal FarmGeorge Orwell · 1945
  32. The Golden BowlHenry James · 1904
  33. Sister CarrieTheodore Dreiser · not in the collection
  34. A Handful of DustEvelyn Waugh · not in the collection
  35. As I Lay DyingWilliam Faulkner · 1930
  36. All the King's MenRobert Penn Warren · not in the collection
  37. The Bridge of San Luis ReyThornton Wilder · not in the collection
  38. Howards EndE. M. Forster · 1910
  39. Go Tell It on the MountainJames Baldwin · not in the collection
  40. The Heart of the MatterGraham Greene · 1948
  41. Lord of the FliesWilliam Golding · 1954
  42. DeliveranceJames Dickey · not in the collection
  43. A Dance to the Music of Time (Series)Anthony Powell · not in the collection
  44. Point Counter PointAldous Huxley · not in the collection
  45. The Sun Also RisesErnest Hemingway · 1926
  46. The Secret AgentJoseph Conrad · 1907
  47. NostromoJoseph Conrad · 1900
  48. The RainbowD.H. Lawrence · 1915
  49. Women in LoveD.H. Lawrence · 1920
  50. Tropic of CancerHenry Miller · not in the collection
  51. The Naked and the DeadNorman Mailer · not in the collection
  52. Portnoy’s ComplaintPhilip Roth · not in the collection
  53. Pale FireVladimir Nabokov · 1945
  54. Light In AugustWilliam Faulkner · 1932
  55. On The RoadJack Kerouac · 1957
  56. The Maltese FalconDashiell Hammett · 1929
  57. Parade’s EndFord Madox Ford · not in the collection
  58. The Age of InnocenceEdith Wharton · 1920
  59. Zuleika DobsonMax Beerbohm · not in the collection
  60. The MoviegoerWalker Percy · not in the collection
  61. Death Comes for the ArchbishopWilla Cather · 1927
  62. From Here to EternityJames Jones · not in the collection
  63. The Wapshot ChronicleJohn Cheever · not in the collection
  64. The Catcher in the RyeJ. D. Salinger · 1945
  65. A Clockwork OrangeAnthony Burgess · 1962
  66. Of Human BondageW. Somerset Maugham · 1915
  67. Heart of DarknessJoseph Conrad · 1899
  68. Main StreetSinclair Lewis · not in the collection
  69. The House of MirthEdith Wharton · 1905
  70. The Alexandria QuartetLawrence Durrell · not in the collection
  71. A High Wind in JamaicaRichard Hughes · not in the collection
  72. A House for Mr BiswasV.S. Naipaul · not in the collection
  73. The Day of the LocustNathanael West · not in the collection
  74. A Farewell to ArmsErnest Hemingway · 1929
  75. ScoopEvelyn Waugh · not in the collection
  76. The Prime of Miss Jean BrodieMuriel Spark · not in the collection
  77. Finnegans WakeJames Joyce · 1928
  78. KimRudyard Kipling · 1901
  79. A Room With a ViewE. M. Forster · 1908
  80. Brideshead RevisitedEvelyn Waugh · not in the collection
  81. The Adventures of Augie MarchSaul Bellow · not in the collection
  82. Angle of ReposeWallace Stegner · not in the collection
  83. A Bend in the RiverV.S. Naipaul · not in the collection
  84. The Death of the HeartElizabeth Bowen · not in the collection
  85. Lord JimJoseph Conrad · 1900
  86. RagtimeE.L. Doctorow · not in the collection
  87. The Old Wives’ TaleArnold Bennett · not in the collection
  88. The Call of the WildJack London · 1903
  89. LovingHenry Green · not in the collection
  90. Midnight's ChildrenSalman Rushdie · 1981
  91. Tobacco RoadErskine Caldwell · not in the collection
  92. IronweedWilliam Kennedy · not in the collection
  93. The MagusJohn Fowles · not in the collection
  94. Wide Sargasso SeaJean Rhys · 1966
  95. Under the NetIris Murdoch · not in the collection
  96. Sophie’s ChoiceWilliam Styron · not in the collection
  97. The Sheltering SkyPaul Bowles · not in the collection
  98. The Postman Always Rings TwiceJames M. Cain · not in the collection
  99. The Ginger ManJ.P. Donleavy · not in the collection
  100. The Magnificent AmbersonsBooth Tarkington · not in the collection