Iris Murdoch books in order
Irish-born British writer and philosopher
- Lived
- 1919–1999
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Books
- 38
Iris Murdoch published 32 novels, 4 novellas, 1 non-fiction book and 1 other book, beginning with Under the Net (1954). The best-known is The Sea, the Sea (1978).
Updated September 2026
Where to start with Iris Murdoch
Start here
The Sea, the Sea
Iris Murdoch's most-read book.
Shortest way in
A Severed Head
One of the most-read, at about 248 pages.
Standalone novels in order
Under the Net (1954)
The Flight from the Enchanter (1956)
The Sandcastle (Dec 1957)
The Bell (1958)
A Severed Head (1961)
An Unofficial Rose (1962)
The Unicorn (1963)
The Italian Girl (1964)
The Red and the Green (1965)
The Time of the Angels (1966)
The Nice and the Good (1968)
Bruno's Dream (1969)
A Fairly Honourable Defeat (1970)
An Accidental Man (1971)
The Three Arrows; And, the Servants and the Snow: Plays (1973)
The Black Prince (Feb 1973)
The Sacred and Profane Love Machine (1974)
A Word Child (1975)
Henry and Cato (1976)
A Year of Birds (1978)
The Sea, the Sea (1978)
Nuns and Soldiers (Sep 1980)
The Philosopher's Pupil (1983)
The Good Apprentice (1985)
The Book and the Brotherhood (1987)
The Message to the Planet (1989)
The Servants and the Snow; the Three Arrows; the Black Prince (1989)
The Green Knight (1993)
Jackson's Dilemma (1995)
Existentialists and Mystics (1997)
A Writer at War (2010)
Living on Paper (2015)
Novellas in order
Sartre, Romantic Rationalist (1953)
The Sovereignty of Good (1970)
Acastos (1986)
Something Special (1999)
Non-fiction in order
Metaphysics as a Guide to Morals (1992)
Other books in order
Joanna, Joanna (1994)
About Iris Murdoch
Dame Jean Iris Murdoch was an Irish and British novelist and philosopher. Murdoch is best known for her novels about good and evil, sexual relationships, morality, and the power of the unconscious. Her first published novel, Under the Net (1954), was selected in 1998 as one of Modern Library's 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. Her 1978 novel The Sea, The Sea won the Booker Prize. In 1987, she was made a Dame by Queen Elizabeth II for services to literature. In 2008, The Times ranked Murdoch twelfth on a list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945".
Biography from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Iris Murdoch FAQ
- How many books has Iris Murdoch written?
- Iris Murdoch published 32 novels, 4 novellas, 1 non-fiction book and 1 other book that we list, as of September 2026.
- What order should I read Iris Murdoch's books in?
- Publication order is a safe choice; the full list is above. Most readers start with The Sea, the Sea.
- What is Iris Murdoch's last book?
- Something Special (1999).
- What is Iris Murdoch's most famous book?
- The Sea, the Sea (1978) is Iris Murdoch's most widely read book.
Authors like Iris Murdoch
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Jorge Luis Borges
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Aldous Huxley
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Virginia Woolf
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Gore Vidal
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James Baldwin
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Sources: book lists and dates from Wikidata and Open Library, ratings from Open Library readers. Last updated September 2026.