Ian McEwan has published 18 novels, 3 novellas, 2 short story collections, 2 plays and 1 other book, beginning with First Love, Last Rites (1975). The best-known is Atonement (2001). The latest is What We Can Know (2025).
Updated September 2026
Where to start with Ian McEwan
Start here
Atonement
Ian McEwan's most-read book.
Shortest way in
The Daydreamer
One of the most-read, at about 151 pages.
Newest
What We Can Know
Published September 2025.
Standalone novels in order
The Cement Garden (1978)
Rose Blanche (1985)
The Child in Time (1987)
The Innocent (1990)
Black Dogs (Jul 1992)
The Daydreamer (1995)
Enduring Love (1997)
Amsterdam (Dec 1998)
Atonement (2001)
Saturday (2005)
On Chesil Beach (2007)
Solar (Mar 2010)
Sweet Tooth (2012)
The Children Act (Sep 2014)
Nutshell (2016)
Machines Like Me (2019)
Lessons (2022)
What We Can Know (Sep 2025)
Novellas in order
The Comfort of Strangers (1981)
Soursweet (Faber Filmscripts) (1988)
The Cockroach (2019)
Short story collections in order
First Love, Last Rites (1975)
In Between the Sheets (1978)
Plays in order
The Imitation Game and Other Plays (1981)
A Move Abroad (1983)
Other books in order
The Good Son (1994)
Film and TV adaptations
- First Love, Last Rites (1997)Film · from First Love, Last Rites
- The Cement Garden (1993)Film · from The Cement Garden
- The Comfort of Strangers (1990)Film · from The Comfort of Strangers
- The Child in Time (2017)TV · from The Child in Time
- The Innocent (1993)Film · from The Innocent
- Enduring Love (2004)Film · from Enduring Love
- Atonement (2007)Film · from Atonement
- On Chesil Beach (2017)Film · from On Chesil Beach
- The Children Act (2017)Film · from The Children Act
About Ian McEwan
Ian Russell McEwan is a British novelist and screenwriter. In 2008, The Times featured him at number 35 on its list of "the 50 greatest British writers since 1945", and The Daily Telegraph ranked him number 19 out of "the 100 most powerful people in British culture".
Biography from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.
Ian McEwan FAQ
- How many books has Ian McEwan written?
- Ian McEwan has published 18 novels, 3 novellas, 2 short story collections, 2 plays and 1 other book that we list, as of September 2026.
- What order should I read Ian McEwan's books in?
- Publication order is a safe choice; the full list is above. Most readers start with Atonement.
- What is Ian McEwan's latest book?
- What We Can Know (2025).
- What is Ian McEwan's most famous book?
- Atonement (2001) is Ian McEwan's most widely read book.
- Which Ian McEwan books have been adapted?
- 9 books have been adapted for film or TV, including First Love, Last Rites (film, 1997), The Cement Garden (film, 1993), The Comfort of Strangers (film, 1990) and The Child in Time (TV, 2017).
Authors like Ian McEwan
Sources: book lists and dates from Wikidata and Open Library, ratings from Open Library readers. Last updated September 2026.