BBC’s 12 Greatest Novels of the 21st Century, Ranked

Trying to choose the greatest books of all time is almost impossible. Readers have different tastes, critics disagree, and thousands of incredible novels have been published across generations. But what happens when you narrow the question down to modern literature?

Which novels deserve to be called the best books of the 21st century?

In 2015, BBC Culture attempted to answer that question by polling American literary critics about the greatest novels published since 2000. More than 150 books reportedly received votes, but twelve novels ultimately stood above the rest. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz took the top spot.

More than a decade has passed since the BBC poll, and we are now more than a quarter of the way through the 21st century. That makes revisiting this list especially fascinating.

Many acclaimed books published after 2015 never had a chance to compete, meaning a new poll today could look dramatically different. Still, many of the novels chosen by the critics have only strengthened their reputations and are now widely regarded as modern classics.

So, how many have you read?

BBC’s 12 Greatest Novels of the 21^st Century 

• Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides (2002) 
• White Teeth by Zadie Smith (2000) 
• Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 2006) 
• Atonement by Ian McEwan (2001) 
• Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain (2012) 
• A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan (2010) 
• The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon (2000) 
• The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen (2001) 
• Gilead by Marilynne Robinson (2004) 
• Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (2009) 
• The Known World by Edward P Jones (2003) 
• The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz 

1. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz (2007)

At the top of the BBC Culture poll is The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz.

The novel follows Oscar de León, an overweight Dominican American teenager obsessed with science fiction, fantasy, comic books, and finding love. But Oscar’s story is also connected to the complicated history of his family and the Dominican Republic.

Díaz mixes family history, immigration, politics, pop culture, science fiction references, and magical realism into one ambitious novel.

When BBC Culture’s poll was released, critics selected it as the greatest novel of the century up to that point.

2. The Known World by Edward P. Jones (2003)

Coming in second is The Known World by Edward P. Jones.

Set in antebellum Virginia, the novel explores slavery through the story of Henry Townsend, a formerly enslaved Black man who becomes a slave owner himself.

Jones creates a sprawling story filled with interconnected characters while examining power, race, morality, freedom, and the contradictions of American slavery.

It is the type of novel that challenges readers while forcing them to confront parts of history that are rarely simple.

3. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (2009)

Historical fiction fans will immediately recognize Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel.

The novel follows Thomas Cromwell during the reign of Henry VIII as Cromwell rises from humble beginnings to become one of the most powerful figures in England.

Mantel takes one of history’s most complicated political periods and transforms it into an immersive character-driven novel.

Wolf Hall became the first installment in Mantel’s acclaimed Thomas Cromwell trilogy and remains one of the defining works of historical fiction published this century.

4. Gilead by Marilynne Robinson (2004)

Gilead by Marilynne Robinson takes a much quieter approach than many of the novels on this list.

The story is written as a letter from an aging minister named John Ames to his young son. Knowing he may not be around to watch his child grow up, Ames records stories about his family, faith, regrets, relationships, and experiences.

It isn’t driven by action or shocking twists. Instead, Robinson explores memory, religion, forgiveness, mortality, and what we leave behind.

That quiet emotional power has helped Gilead become one of the most respected American novels of the century.

5. The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen (2001)

Next is The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen.

The novel follows the dysfunctional Lambert family as the children return home to spend what may be one final Christmas together.

Each member of the family is dealing with personal problems, failed expectations, relationships, careers, and the uncomfortable reality of getting older.

Franzen uses the family to examine American life at the beginning of the 21st century, creating a novel that is funny, uncomfortable, ambitious, and often painfully realistic.

6. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon (2000)

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon combines history, friendship, comic books, ambition, and the American immigrant experience.

The novel follows cousins Joe Kavalier and Sammy Clay, who become involved in the rapidly growing comic-book industry during the 1930s and 1940s.

Against the backdrop of World War II and the Golden Age of comics, Chabon tells a sweeping story about creativity, escape, love, identity, and loss.

For readers who enjoy historical fiction mixed with pop culture, this may be one of the most approachable books on the BBC’s list.

7. A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan (2010)

Jennifer Egan’s A Visit from the Goon Squad is one of the most structurally creative novels on the list.

Rather than following one straightforward storyline, Egan moves between different characters, decades, perspectives, and formats.

Music plays an important role throughout the novel, but the bigger subject may be time itself.

Characters age. Dreams change. Careers disappear. Relationships fall apart. And people who once believed they had everything figured out discover that life rarely goes according to plan.

8. Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain (2012)

Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain follows a group of American soldiers who become celebrities after surviving a battle during the Iraq War.

They are brought home for a publicity tour that eventually takes them to a Thanksgiving Day football game in Texas.

The celebration is supposed to honor their bravery, but Fountain uses the spectacle to explore the enormous divide between the public image of war and the experiences of the soldiers who actually fight it.

It is funny, satirical, uncomfortable, and deeply critical of celebrity culture and the commercialization of patriotism.

9. Atonement by Ian McEwan (2001)

Atonement by Ian McEwan begins with a terrible misunderstanding.

In 1935 England, young Briony Tallis witnesses events involving her older sister Cecilia and Robbie Turner. Her interpretation of what happened leads to an accusation that changes several lives forever.

From there, the novel expands into a story about guilt, love, war, memory, storytelling, and whether some mistakes can ever truly be forgiven.

Atonement is one of those novels that becomes even more powerful when you reach the ending and reconsider everything that came before it.

10. Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2006)

One book on this list that I have read is Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and I can understand why critics ranked it so highly.

Set during the Nigerian Civil War and the rise and fall of Biafra, the novel follows several characters whose lives are transformed by war.

Adichie combines political history with intimate personal stories about love, family, loyalty, class, colonialism, and survival.

It is an emotionally powerful novel and easily one of the books on this list I would recommend the most.

Its reputation has continued to grow since the BBC poll. In 2020, Half of a Yellow Sun was voted the best Women’s Prize for Fiction winner from the award’s first 25 years.

11. White Teeth by Zadie Smith (2000)

Published when Zadie Smith was still in her twenties, White Teeth immediately established her as one of the major literary voices of her generation.

The novel centers around two families living in multicultural London and explores immigration, religion, identity, race, friendship, generational conflict, and the complicated relationship between the past and present.

It is ambitious, funny, chaotic, and filled with memorable characters.

More than two decades after its publication, White Teeth continues to appear in discussions about the defining novels of modern British literature.

12. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides (2002)

Rounding out the BBC’s top twelve is Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides.

The multigenerational novel is narrated by Cal Stephanides and follows the history of a Greek American family across several decades.

Eugenides combines family saga, immigration story, coming-of-age novel, and historical fiction as Cal tries to understand both his family history and his identity.

At more than 500 pages, it is one of the larger novels on the list, but its scope is part of what made it such an acclaimed work.

The Rest of the BBC’s Top 20 Novels

The BBC Culture poll didn’t stop at twelve books. Eight additional novels rounded out the critics’ top twenty.

13. Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Adichie’s second appearance in the top 20 follows Ifemelu, a Nigerian woman who moves to the United States and experiences race, immigration, identity, and love from a new perspective.

14. Austerlitz by W. G. Sebald

Sebald’s unconventional novel explores memory, displacement, identity, and the lingering trauma of the Holocaust.

15. My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante

The first novel in Ferrante’s celebrated Neapolitan series follows the complicated lifelong friendship between Elena and Lila in postwar Naples.

16. The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst

Set in Britain during the 1980s, Hollinghurst’s novel explores class, sexuality, wealth, politics, and privilege.

17. The Road by Cormac McCarthy

One of the most recognizable books on the entire list, The Road follows a father and son traveling through the ruins of a post-apocalyptic America.

18. NW by Zadie Smith

Smith’s second appearance examines the lives of several people who grew up in the same part of northwest London but followed very different paths.

19. 2666 by Roberto Bolaño

Bolaño’s massive, experimental novel connects several narratives revolving around violence, literature, obsession, and a fictional Mexican city.

20. The Great Fire by Shirley Hazzard

Set shortly after World War II, Hazzard’s novel follows a decorated war veteran whose experiences lead him to reconsider the world and the life he wants to live.

The full top 20 also showed how strongly certain writers impressed the critics. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie appeared with both Half of a Yellow Sun and Americanah, while Zadie Smith appeared with White Teeth and NW.

How Well Has the BBC’s List Aged?

This may be the most interesting question.

When the BBC Culture poll was conducted in 2015, the 21st century was only about fifteen years old. Today, we have more than another decade of novels that the critics never had the opportunity to consider.

That is a huge limitation.

A modern version of this poll could include acclaimed works released long after the original voting took place, and some of those books would almost certainly challenge the original twelve.

At the same time, many of the BBC selections have remained prominent in conversations about modern literature.

Wolf Hall, Half of a Yellow Sun, My Brilliant Friend, The Road, Atonement, White Teeth, and several others continue to appear on major reading lists and discussions of important contemporary fiction.

That longevity is probably the strongest argument in favor of revisiting the BBC list today.

These weren’t simply books critics loved for a year or two. Many have endured.

The Books I Still Need to Read

Looking through the list also reminds me how many acclaimed novels I still need to get around to reading.

My favorite genres tend to be science fiction and fantasy, so lists dominated by literary and historical fiction sometimes force me outside my usual reading habits.

That isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Some of my favorite reading experiences have happened when I’ve picked up a book I normally wouldn’t have chosen.

Half of a Yellow Sun is the strongest example here. It is a fantastic novel and absolutely deserves its place among the best books of the century.

And looking at the rest of the list, there are several books I clearly need to stop putting off.

The Road, Wolf Hall, The Known World, and The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay are especially high on my list.

Does The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao Still Deserve the No. 1 Spot?

This is where the debate gets interesting.

In 2015, critics selected The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao as the best novel published in the 21st century up to that point.

Would it win again today?

Maybe. Maybe not.

More than ten years of major novels have been published since the poll was conducted, giving today’s critics a much larger pool to choose from.

That doesn’t make the original BBC list irrelevant. If anything, it makes it more interesting.

We can now look back and see which books have maintained their reputations, which have grown in stature, and which newer books might eventually replace them.

Literary rankings are never going to satisfy everyone, and that’s part of what makes them fun.

Conclusion

The BBC Culture poll remains a fascinating snapshot of what critics considered the greatest novels of the 21st centuryduring the century’s first fifteen years.

From The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao and The Known World to Wolf Hall, Half of a Yellow Sun, Atonement, and Middlesex, the list contains an impressive collection of modern literature.

But enough time has now passed that another question is impossible to ignore:

What would the list look like if critics voted again today?

There are now more than 25 years of 21st-century literature to consider, and many acclaimed novels published after 2015 would be competing for a place.

Until a new poll arrives, this list gives readers a fantastic modern-classics reading challenge.

How many of these twenty books have you read? And which novel would you choose as the greatest book of the 21st century so far?

Let us know in the comments!

Follow us on Instagram and Facebook!