Anthologies#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| Pen America 13 |
2009 |
Buy |
| Unstuck #1 |
2011 |
Buy |
Short Stories/Novellas#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| The Knowers |
2013 |
Buy |
Short Story Collections#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| The Doppelgängers |
2016 |
Buy |
| Some Possible Solutions |
2016 |
Buy |
Standalone Novels#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| Here Where the Sunbeams Are Green |
2012 |
Buy |
| Upside Down in the Jungle |
2013 |
Buy |
| The Beautiful Bureaucrat |
2015 |
Buy |
| The Need |
2019 |
Buy |
| And Yet They Were Happy |
2023 |
Buy |
| Hum |
2024 |
Buy |
Helen Phillips writes fiction that sits at the intersection of literary realism and speculative strangeness. Her novels take familiar settings — offices, homes, families — and introduce uncanny elements that expose the anxiety beneath everyday life. The Beautiful Bureaucrat (2015) places a woman in a job that seems to control life and death through data entry. The Need (2019) traps a mother in her home with an intruder who may be herself from another reality.
Phillips’s work has earned a National Book Award longlist nomination (for Hum, 2024) and praise for the way she uses genre elements to illuminate domestic and existential concerns. Her eleven books span novels, short story collections, and shorter fiction, with her style growing increasingly focused on technology and surveillance in her more recent work.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many books has Helen Phillips written?
Helen Phillips has written eleven books across four series.
What was Helen Phillips's first book?
Helen Phillips’s first book is Pen America 13, published in 2009.
What kind of fiction does Helen Phillips write?
Helen Phillips writes literary fiction with speculative and surreal elements. Her novels have been described as literary horror, domestic suspense, and speculative fiction. The Need (2019) blends motherhood anxiety with a home-invasion thriller, while Hum (2024) imagines a near-future where AI has transformed daily life.