Rotters’ Club Reading Order#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| The Rotters’ Club |
2001 |
Buy |
| The Closed Circle |
2004 |
Buy |
| Middle England |
2018 |
Buy |
Series: Rotters’ Club
View all Rotters’ Club books
The Winshaw Legacy Reading Order#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| What a Carve Up! / The Winshaw Legacy |
1994 |
Buy |
| Number 11 |
2015 |
Buy |
Series: The Winshaw Legacy
View all The Winshaw Legacy books
Save the Story#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| The Story of Gulliver |
2011 |
Buy |
Series: Save the Story
View all Save the Story books
Standalone Novels#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| The Accidental Woman |
1987 |
Buy |
| A Touch of Love |
1989 |
Buy |
| The Dwarves of Death |
1990 |
Buy |
| The House of Sleep |
1997 |
Buy |
| The Rain Before it Falls |
2007 |
Buy |
| The Terrible Privacy of Maxwell Sim |
2010 |
Buy |
| Expo 58 |
2011 |
Buy |
| Mr Wilder & Me |
2020 |
Buy |
| Bournville |
2022 |
Buy |
| The Proof of My Innocence |
2024 |
Buy |
Non-Fiction#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| Humphrey Bogart: Take It & Like It |
1992 |
Buy |
| Jimmy Stewart: A Wonderful Life |
1994 |
Buy |
| Like A Fiery Elephant: The Story of B. S. Johnson |
2004 |
Buy |
Collections#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| 9th and 13th |
2005 |
Buy |
Short Stories/Novellas#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| The Broken Mirror |
2012 |
Buy |
| Pentatonic |
2012 |
Buy |
Anthologies#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| Ox-Tales: Earth |
2009 |
Buy |
Jonathan Coe is a British novelist and satirist, born in Birmingham in 1961. He completed a PhD at the University of Warwick and has since built a career blending political satire with warmth, humor, and a deep interest in music. His fiction often takes aim at British institutions and the country’s shifting political landscape while remaining affectionate toward its characters.
Coe’s best-known works include What a Carve Up! (1994), a darkly comic dissection of Thatcherism through the grotesque Winshaw dynasty, and The House of Sleep (1997), which won the Prix Medicis. His Rotters’ Club trilogy follows a group of schoolmates from 1970s Birmingham through to the Brexit era. He has also written biographies of Humphrey Bogart, Jimmy Stewart, and the experimental novelist B. S. Johnson, the last of which won the Samuel Johnson Prize.
Frequently Asked Questions
What order should I read Jonathan Coe's books in?
Coe’s books are mostly standalone, but the Rotters’ Club trilogy should be read in order: The Rotters’ Club (2001), The Closed Circle (2004), and Middle England (2018). For The Winshaw Legacy, read What a Carve Up! before Number 11.
What is Jonathan Coe best known for?
Coe is best known for What a Carve Up! (1994), a satirical novel about the Winshaw family, and The House of Sleep (1997), which won the Prix Medicis. His novel Middle England (2018) won the Costa Novel Award and the European Book Prize.
Has Jonathan Coe won any literary prizes?
Yes. He won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize for What a Carve Up!, the Prix Medicis for The House of Sleep, the Samuel Johnson Prize for his biography of B. S. Johnson, and the Costa Novel Award for Middle England.