Anthony Burgess Standalone Novels books in order

Anthony Burgess's standalone novels span dystopian fiction, historical novels, and literary experiments, including A Clockwork Orange and Earthly Powers.

Reading order

# Title Published Author Buy on Amazon
1 The Wanting Seed 1956 Anthony Burgess Buy
2 The Doctor is Sick 1960 Anthony Burgess Buy
3 The Right to an Answer 1960 Anthony Burgess Buy
4 Devil of a State 1961 Anthony Burgess Buy
5 One Hand Clapping, 1961 Anthony Burgess Buy
6 The Worm and the Ring 1961 Anthony Burgess Buy
7 A Clockwork Orange 1962 Anthony Burgess Buy
8 Honey for the Bears 1963 Anthony Burgess Buy
9 Inside Mr. Enderby 1963 Anthony Burgess Buy
10 The Eve of Saint Venus 1964 Anthony Burgess Buy
11 Nothing like the Sun 1964 Anthony Burgess Buy
12 A Vision of Battlements 1965 Anthony Burgess Buy
13 Tremor of Intent 1966 Anthony Burgess Buy
14 MF 1971 Anthony Burgess Buy
15 Napoleon Symphony 1974 Anthony Burgess Buy
16 A Long Trip to Teatime 1976 Anthony Burgess Buy
17 Beard’s Roman Women 1976 Anthony Burgess Buy
18 Moses 1976 Anthony Burgess Buy
19 Abba Abba 1977 Anthony Burgess Buy
20 1985 1978 Anthony Burgess Buy
21 Man of Nazareth 1979 Anthony Burgess Buy
22 The Kingdom of the Wicked 1980 Anthony Burgess Buy
23 Earthly Powers 1980 Anthony Burgess Buy
24 The End of the World News 1982 Anthony Burgess Buy
25 The Pianoplayers 1986 Anthony Burgess Buy
26 Any Old Iron 1989 Anthony Burgess Buy
27 Mozart and the Wolf Gang 1991 Anthony Burgess Buy
28 A Dead Man in Deptford 1993 Anthony Burgess Buy
29 Byrne 1995 Anthony Burgess Buy

Anthony Burgess’s standalone novels number twenty-nine, published between 1956 and 1995. The most famous is A Clockwork Orange (1962), a short, violent novel about free will and behavioral conditioning, written in an invented slang. Earthly Powers (1980) is his longest and most ambitious novel, narrated by an elderly writer whose memoirs span the entire 20th century.

Other notable standalones include Nothing like the Sun (1964), a fictionalized life of Shakespeare told in Elizabethan English; Tremor of Intent (1966), a spy thriller that parodies the genre; Napoleon Symphony (1974), which structures Napoleon’s life story around Beethoven’s Third Symphony; and A Dead Man in Deptford (1993), about the murder of playwright Christopher Marlowe. The range of subjects and styles across these novels reflects Burgess’s restless intellect and his refusal to repeat himself.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many books are in the Anthony Burgess Standalone Novels series?

There are 29 books in the Anthony Burgess Standalone Novels series, published between 1956 and 1995.

What is the first book in the Anthony Burgess Standalone Novels series?

The first book in the Anthony Burgess Standalone Novels series is The Wanting Seed, published in 1956.

What is Earthly Powers about?

Earthly Powers (1980) is narrated by Kenneth Toomey, an aging homosexual writer whose life has intersected with major events of the 20th century, from World War I to the present. The novel also follows a Catholic clergyman whose apparent miracle may have had terrible unintended consequences. It is considered one of Burgess’s finest works.

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