William S. Burroughs books in order
American novelist, short story writer, essayist, painter, and spoken word performer
- Lived
- 1914–1997
- Country
- United States
- Books
- 43
- Series
- 1
- Also writes as
- Willy a William Lee
William S. Burroughs published 31 novels, 6 novellas, 1 short story collection, 2 non-fiction books and 3 other books, beginning with Junkie (1953). The series is The Nova Trilogy (3 books, starting with The Soft Machine). The best-known is Naked Lunch (1959).
Updated September 2026
The Nova Trilogy books in order (3)Series page
Reading order: 1 The Soft Machine (1961) · 2 The Ticket That Exploded (1962) · 3 Nova Express (1964)
- 1.
The Soft Machine (1961)
- 2.
The Ticket That Exploded (1962)
- 3.
Nova Express (1964)
Where to start with William S. Burroughs
Start here
Naked Lunch
William S. Burroughs's most-read book.
Shortest way in
Junkie
One of the most-read, at about 159 pages.
Standalone novels in order
Junkie (1953)
Naked Lunch (1959)
Dead Fingers Talk (1963)
The Wild Boys (1971)
Exterminator! (1973)
Port of Saints (Jan 1973)
The Retreat Diaries (1976)
The Third Mind (1978)
Ah Pook Is Here, and Other Texts (1979)
Cities of the Red Night (1981)
William Burroughs Reader (1982)
The Place of Dead Roads (1983)
Speed (1984)
The Burroughs File (1984)
The Job (1984)
Queer (Nov 1985)
The Western Lands (1987)
In Youth Is Pleasure (1993)
Speed and Kentucky Ham (1993)
Strange Amazing and Mysterious Places (1993)
The Letters of William S. Burroughs: Volume I (1994)
My Education: A Book of Dreams (Jan 1995)
Letters of William S. Burroughs (1998)
Conversations with William S. Burroughs (1999)
Last Words (2000)
Cursed from Birth (2001)
And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks (Nov 2008), with Jack Kerouac
Rub Out The Words The Letters Of William S Burroughs 19591974 (2012)
Novellas in order
The Yage Letters (1963), with Allen Ginsberg
The Last Words of Dutch Schultz (1970)
Blade Runner (1979)
The Cat Inside (1986)
Ghost of Chance (1991)
William S. Burroughs' "The Revised Boy Scout Manual" (2018)
Short story collections in order
Interzone (1989)
Non-fiction in order
The Adding Machine (1985)
Word Virus (1998)
Other books in order
Tornado Alley (1989)
Seven Deadly Sins (1991)
The Finger (2018)
Film and TV adaptations
- Naked Lunch (1991)Film · from Naked Lunch
- Taking Tiger Mountain (1983)Film · from Blade Runner
- Queer (2024)Film · from Queer
About William S. Burroughs
William Seward Burroughs II was an American writer and visual artist. He is widely considered a primary figure of the Beat Generation and a postmodern author who influenced underground and popular culture and literature. Much of Burroughs's work is experimental and features unreliable narrators. Also noted as semi-autobiographical, his work often drew from his experiences with drug addiction, and featured his various places of residence as settings in much of his work. With Brion Gysin, Burroughs popularized the cut-up, an aleatory literary technique. His writing also engaged frequent mystical, occult, or otherwise magical themes, constant preoccupations in his fiction and real life.
Biography from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.
William S. Burroughs FAQ
- How many books has William S. Burroughs written?
- William S. Burroughs published 31 novels, 6 novellas, 1 short story collection, 2 non-fiction books and 3 other books that we list, as of September 2026.
- What order should I read William S. Burroughs's books in?
- Read each series in its own order: start The Nova Trilogy with The Soft Machine. The other books stand alone and can be read in any order.
- What is William S. Burroughs's last book?
- Conversations with William S. Burroughs (1999).
- What is William S. Burroughs's most famous book?
- Naked Lunch (1959) is William S. Burroughs's most widely read book.
- Are William S. Burroughs's books connected?
- 3 books belong to 1 series (The Nova Trilogy); the other 40 books stand alone.
- Does William S. Burroughs write under a pen name?
- Yes: William S. Burroughs has also published as Willy a William Lee.
- Which William S. Burroughs books have been adapted?
- 3 books have been adapted for film or TV, including Naked Lunch (film, 1991), Blade Runner (as Taking Tiger Mountain, film, 1983) and Queer (film, 2024).
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Sources: book lists and dates from Wikidata and Open Library, ratings from Open Library readers. Last updated September 2026.