Ninety-nine Novels
Cover art Richard Willson
Ninety-Nine Novels: The Best in English since 1939 — A Personal Choice is an essay by British writer Anthony Burgess, published by Allison & Busby in 1984. It covers a 44-year span between 1939 and 1983. Burgess was a prolific reader, in his early career reviewing more than 350 novels in just over two years for The Yorkshire Post. In the course of his career he wrote more than 30 novels. The list represents his choices; in an interview with Don Swaim,[1] Burgess revealed that the book was originally commissioned by a Nigerian publishing company and written in two weeks.
The List[edit]
Podcast[edit]
In January 2022, the International Anthony Burgess Foundation began a podcast examining each of Burgess's Ninety-Nine Novels.[2]
Series One[edit]
1. Finnegans Wake by James Joyce (with Enrico Terrinoni)[3]
2. Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor (with Alison Arant)[4]
3. Giles Goat-Boy by John Barth (with David Morrell)[5]
4. Heartland by Wilson Harris (with Michael Mitchell)[6]
5. Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon (with Simon Malpas)[7]
6. The Bell by Iris Murdoch (with Avril Horner)[8]
7. A Bend in the River by V.S. Naipaul (with Will Ghosh)[9]
8. Party Going by Henry Green (with Marius Hentea)[10]
9. Saturday Night and Sunday Morning by Alan Sillitoe (with James Walker)[11]
Series Two[edit]
1. Goldfinger by Ian Fleming (with Kim Sherwood)[12]
2. The Unlimited Dream Company by J.G. Ballard (with David Ian Paddy)[13]
3. Nineteen-Eighty Four by George Orwell (with John Bowen)[14]
4. The Heat of the Day by Elizabeth Bowen (with Jessica Gildersleeve)[15]
5. Pavane by Keith Roberts (with Glyn Morgan)[16]
6. The Girls of Slender Means and The Mandelbaum Gate by Muriel Spark (with Alan Taylor)[17]
7. Bomber by Len Deighton (with Rob Mallows)[18]
8. For Whom the Bell Tolls and The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway (with Mary Dearborn)[19]
9. The Spire by William Golding (with Tim Kendall)[20]
10. The Once and Future King by T.H. White (with Elizabeth Elliott)[21]
Series Three[edit]
1. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh (with Barbara Cooke)[22]
2. Under the Volcano by Malcolm Lowry (with Michael Schmidt)[23]
3. The Long Good-bye by Raymond Chandler (with Tom Williams)[24]
4. A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood (with Katherine Bucknell)[25]
5. Falstaff by Robert Nye (with Rob Spence)[26]
6. The Aerodrome by Rex Warner (with Joseph Darlington)[27]
7. A Dance to the Music of Time by Anthony Powell (with Nicholas Birns)[28]
8. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison (with Sterling L. Bland Jr.)[29]
9. Lanark by Alasdair Gray (with Rodge Glass)[30]
References[edit]
- ^ 1985 interview with Anthony Burgess Archived 11 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Burgess Foundation Podcast".
- ^ "Ninety-Nine Novels: Finnegans Wake by James Joyce".
- ^ "Ninety-Nine Novels: Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor".
- ^ "Ninety-Nine Novels: Giles Goat-Boy by John Barth".
- ^ "Ninety-Nine Novels: Heartland by Wilson Harris".
- ^ "Ninety-Nine Novels: Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon".
- ^ "Ninety-Nine Novels: The Bell by Iris Murdoch".
- ^ "Ninety-Nine Novels: A Bend in the River by V.S. Naipaul".
- ^ "Ninety-Nine Novels: Party Going by Henry Green".
- ^ "Ninety-Nine Novels: Saturday Night and Sunday Morning by Alan Sillitoe".
- ^ "Ninety-Nine Novels: Goldfinger by Ian Fleming".
- ^ "Ninety-Nine Novels: The Unlimited Dream Company by J.G. Ballard".
- ^ "Ninety-Nine Novels: Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell".
- ^ "Ninety-Nine Novels: The Heat of the Day by Elizabeth Bowen".
- ^ "Ninety-Nine Novels: Pavane by Keith Roberts".
- ^ "Ninety-Nine Novels: Two Novels by Muriel Spark".
- ^ "Ninety-Nine Novels: Bomber by Len Deighton".
- ^ "Ninety-Nine Novels: Two Novels by Ernest Hemingway".
- ^ "Ninety-Nine Novels: The Spire by William Golding".
- ^ "Ninety-Nine Novels: The Once and Future King by T.H. White".
- ^ "Ninety-Nine Novels: Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh".
- ^ "Ninety-Nine Novels: Under the Volcano by Malcolm Lowry".
- ^ "Ninety-Nine Novels: The Long Good-bye by Raymond Chandler".
- ^ "Ninety-Nine Novels: A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood".
- ^ "Ninety-Nine Novels: Falstaff by Robert Nye".
- ^ "Ninety-Nine Novels: The Aerodrome by Rex Warner".
- ^ "Ninety-Nine Novels: A Dance to the Music of Time by Anthony Powell".
- ^ "Ninety-Nine Novels: Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison".
- ^ "Ninety-Nine Novels: Lanark by Alasdair Gray".