Samuel Beckett books in order
Irish writer
- Lived
- 1906–1989
- Country
- Ireland
- Books
- 78
- Also writes as
- Andrew Belis
Samuel Beckett published 15 novels, 9 novellas, 4 short story collections, 5 non-fiction books, 1 children's book, 5 poetry collections, 27 plays and 12 other books, beginning with Murphy (1938). The best-known is Waiting for Godot (1952).
Updated September 2026
Where to start with Samuel Beckett
Start here
Waiting for Godot
Samuel Beckett's most-read book.
Shortest way in
Molloy
One of the most-read, at about 247 pages.
Standalone novels in order
Our Exagmination Round His Factification for Incamination of Work in Progress (1929), with William Carlos Williams
Murphy (1938)
Molloy (1951)
The Unnamable (1953)
Watt (1953)
Samuel Beckett (1971)
No's Knife (1975)
Signature Anthology (1975)
I Can't Go On, I'll Go on (1977)
Disjecta (1983)
Collected Shorter Plays (1984)
Dream of Fair to Middling Women (1992)
Collected Shorter Plays of Samuel Beckett (1994)
Molloy, Malone Dies, The Unnamable (1997)
No Author Better Served (1998)
Novellas in order
Malone Dies (1951)
How It Is (1961)
Mercier and Camier (1970)
The Lost Ones (1972)
Company (1979)
Ill Seen Ill Said (1981)
Worstward Ho (1983)
Stirrings Still (Mar 1989)
Echo's Bones (2014)
Short story collections in order
More Pricks Than Kicks (1934)
Stories & Texts for Nothing (1967)
Fizzles (1977)
Nohow On (1989)
Non-fiction in order
Proust (1931)
Film (1968)
Jack B. Yeats (1971)
Nobel Prize Library (1971)
Ends and Odds (1976)
Children's books in order
Three Plays (1981)
Poetry in order
Poems in English (1961)
Anthology of Mexican Poetry (1965)
Collected Poems in English and French (1977)
Collected Poems, 1930-1978 (1984)
The Collected Poems of Samuel Beckett (2014)
Plays in order
Waiting for Godot (1952)
Act Without Words I (1956)
From an Abandoned Work (1956)
All That Fall (1957)
Endgame (1957)
Act Without Words II (1959)
Embers (1959)
Krapp's Last Tape (1959)
Happy Days (1960)
The Old Tune (1960)
Words and Music (1962)
Come and Go (1967)
Eh Joe (1967)
Breath (1969)
Not I (1973)
Rough for Theatre I (1974)
Footballs (1976)
Ghost Trio (1976)
Rough for Theatre II (1976)
That Time (1976)
But the Clouds (1977)
Ohio Impromptu (1981)
Rockaby (1981)
Catastrophe (1982)
What Where (1983)
Quad (1984)
Eleutheria (1995)
Other books in order
Krapp's Last Tape, and Embers (1959)
Oh Les Beaux Jours (Happy Days) (1963)
Imagination Dead Imagine (1965)
Cascando, and Other Short Dramatic Pieces (1968)
Endgame, a Play in One Act (1970)
First Love (1973)
Quatre Poèmes (1986)
As the Story Was Told (1987)
Endgame and Act Without Words (1994)
End, The (1996)
Endgame Act Without Words I (2009)
The End (2018)
Film and TV adaptations
- Krapp’s Last Tape (1969)Film · from Krapp's Last Tape
- Friend of the World (2020)Film · from Krapp's Last Tape
About Samuel Beckett
Samuel Barclay Beckett was an Irish playwright, novelist, and poet. Written in both English and French, his literary and theatrical works feature bleak, impersonal, and tragicomic episodes of life, coupled with black comedy and literary nonsense. As a key proponent of Irish literature, he is best known for his tragicomedy play Waiting for Godot (1953), and is widely regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of the 20th century, credited with transforming modern theatre. For his foundational contribution to both literature and theatre, Beckett received the 1969 Nobel Prize in Literature, "for his writing, which—in new forms for the novel and drama—in the destitution of modern man acquires its elevation."
Biography from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.
Samuel Beckett FAQ
- How many books has Samuel Beckett written?
- Samuel Beckett published 15 novels, 9 novellas, 4 short story collections, 5 non-fiction books, 1 children's book, 5 poetry collections, 27 plays and 12 other books that we list, as of September 2026.
- What order should I read Samuel Beckett's books in?
- Publication order is a safe choice; the full list is above. Most readers start with Waiting for Godot.
- What is Samuel Beckett's last book?
- Stirrings Still (1989).
- What is Samuel Beckett's most famous book?
- Waiting for Godot (1952) is Samuel Beckett's most widely read book.
- Does Samuel Beckett write under a pen name?
- Yes: Samuel Beckett has also published as Andrew Belis.
- Which Samuel Beckett books have been adapted?
- 1 book has been adapted for film or TV, including Krapp's Last Tape (as Krapp’s Last Tape, film, 1969).
Sources: book lists and dates from Wikidata and Open Library, ratings from Open Library readers. Last updated September 2026.