Anthony Burgess books

Anthologies

Enderby Reading Order

Non-Fiction

Short Story Collections

Standalone Novels

Standalone Plays

The Long Day Wanes: A Malayan Trilogy Reading Order

Anthony Burgess (1917-1993) was a British novelist, critic, composer, and linguist who published over sixty books during his career. He is best known for A Clockwork Orange (1962), a novel about youth violence and state control written partly in a slang language Burgess invented called Nadsat. The book was adapted into a controversial film by Stanley Kubrick in 1971.

Burgess’s other major works include Earthly Powers (1980), a long novel narrated by an aging writer that spans the major events of the 20th century, and the Enderby quartet, which follows an eccentric poet through four comic novels. The Long Day Wanes trilogy draws on Burgess’s years living in Malaya during the decline of British colonial rule. His standalone novels range from historical fiction about Shakespeare (Nothing like the Sun) and Napoleon (Napoleon Symphony) to dystopian satire (The Wanting Seed, 1985).

His non-fiction is equally varied, covering language (Language Made Plain, A Mouthful of Air), James Joyce (Here Comes Everybody, Joysprick), and two volumes of autobiography (Little Wilson and Big God, You’ve Had Your Time). Burgess was also a working composer who wrote symphonies and scores throughout his literary career.