Backlisted
Episodes
Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild - rerun
09 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A timely revisit of our 2022 Christmas special which celebrates Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild, a classic of children’s literature and the child...
Last and First Men by Olaf Stapledon
25 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Writer and critic Matthew De Abaitua joins Andy, Una and Nicky to discuss Last and First Men: A Story of the Near and Far Future (1930), the astound...
Transit and the Outline Trilogy by Rachel Cusk
11 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Something a little different this week. Andy, Una and Nicky discuss the novel Transit by Rachel Cusk, the second part of her award-winning Outline tri...
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
28 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
For this year's Halloween episode, we take a windswept walk across the Yorkshire moors with Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights — not as a tale of d...
Imogen by Jilly Cooper - Revisit
13 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
To honour the life of Jilly Cooper, we are replaying this joyous episode from 2019 with a new introduction. Joining Andy and John in this episode are...
All The Devils Are Here by David Seabrook part 2
29 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Writer Jason Hazeley joins Andy, Una and Nicky for a celebratory investigation - or investigative celebration - of All the Devils Are Here, the ungov...
The Eye Of the Beholder by Marc Behm
15 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Emmy Award-winning writer David Quantick (Veep, The Thick of It) joins Andy and Una for a discussion of Marc Behm's surreal thriller The Eye of the ...
The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. Le Guin
01 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Tombs of Atuan (1971), the second Earthsea novel, is the subject of this episode. Joining Una and Andy is writer Frank Cottr...
The Hearing Trumpet by Leonora Carrington
18 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Leonora Carrington's charming and surreal novel The Hearing Trumpet (1976, probably) is the subject of this episode. Joining Una, Andy and Nicky is au...
A Taste of Honey by Shelagh Delaney
04 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Dave Haslam and Melanie Williams join us to discuss A Taste of Honey (1958), Shelagh Delaney's first play, written and produced when the author was no...
The Ballad of Halo Jones by Alan Moore
21 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The writer Alan Moore is the subject of this long-awaited episode. Joining Andy and Una is the author and dramatist Simon Guerrier, who has chosen Th...
Angel by Elizabeth Taylor
08 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Angel (1957) by the English writer Elizabeth Taylor, is the subject of this special episode - and, as you'll hear, the next episode of Locklisted too...
The Corner That Held Them by Sylvia Townsend Warner
24 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Sylvia Townsend Warner's The Corner That Held Them (1948) is the subject of this episode, almost ten years since Backlisted covered the same author'...
Summer books 2025
09 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Books we think you might enjoy on a plane, by the pool or in the park. Andy, Nicky and our old friend Una McCormack discuss the following fantastic be...
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13 ¾ by Sue Townsend
26 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The wonderful Nina Stibbe, award-winning novelist and diarist, joins us for a discussion of Sue Townsend's classic comic creation. When it was first p...
The Image of Her by Simone de Beauvoir
12 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
To discuss The Image of Her (1966) by Simone de Beauvoir we are joined by writer and translator Lauren Elkin, whose previous books include Flâneuse: ...
Monkey King: Journey to the West by Wu Cheng'en
28 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Kaliane Bradley, author of The Ministry of Time, joins John and Andy for a tour of Monkey King: Journey to the West by Wu Cheng'en, the sixteenth-c...
The Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro
07 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
“A masterpiece I don’t fully understand—and don’t need to.” This week’s book is The Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro, a bold, baffling, and ...
What Remains by Hannah Arendt
25 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Elif Shafak and Lyndsey Stonebridge join John and Andy for a discussion of the life and work of Hannah Arendt, the historian and philosopher whose boo...
A Compass Error by Sybille Bedford
11 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Sybille Bedford's A Compass Error (1968) is a classic coming-of-age novel, a love story, a family saga and a study in psychological suspense rolled ...
A Life by Elia Kazan
25 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We explore Elia Kazan's memoir A Life (1988) with veteran biographer and critic John Lahr, author of Notes on a Cowardly Lion, Prick Up Your Ears:...
Biography and Memoir
11 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A Backlisted Special dedicated to biographies and memoirs, with books by Nancy Mitford, Roger Lewis, Elizabeth Jane Howard, P.D. James and Jean Rhys. ...
Riddley Waker by Russel Hoban - Rerun
04 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Classic literary sci-fi novel set in a post-apocalyptic Kent – this is a rerun of 2019 episode recorded live at the Port Eliot Festival. Riddley ...
Notes from Under the Floorboards by Fyodor Dostoevsky - Rerun
21 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The 1864 novella that invented dystopian fiction. In an episode first published in November 2021, we are joined by authors Alex Christofi (Dostoevsky ...
Winter Reading 2025
07 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Happy new year! We kick off 2025 - and Backlisted's tenth anniversary year - with our traditional Winter Reading episode, in which Andy, John and Nick...
Moby-Dick; or the Whale by Herman Melville
25 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Join the Backlisted crew as we navigate the swells and surges of Moby-Dick; or the Whale by Herman Melville. That's right, Moby Dick is a Christmas bo...
Voices of the Old Sea by Norman Lewis
10 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We are joined by the poet Katrina Porteous and the writer and editor Patrick Galbraith to discuss Norman Lewis’s account of the of the three summers...
The Moon's a Balloon by David Niven
26 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Rupert Everett joins us to discuss David Niven's memoir The Moon’s a Balloon. This show represents the fulfilment of a long cherished ambition: to...
Grinny & You Remember Me! by Nicholas Fisk
13 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Leith, author of The Haunted Wood: A History of Childhood Reading, returns to Backlisted to discuss two novels by Nicholas Fisk, Grinny (1973) ...
Round the Fire Stories by Arthur Conan Doyle
31 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Happy Hallowe'en 2024! Join John, Andy and Nicky, plus guests Andrew Male and Dr Laura Varnam - AKA the Backlisted Irregulars - for this year's Hallow...
Nico: Songs They Never Play On the Radio by James Young
21 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Author Will Hodgkinson and actress and director Caroline Catz join Andy and John to discuss James Young's Nico: Songs They Never Play On the Radio, f...
Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler
07 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This episode features a live recording made at Foyles in London, where John was joined on stage by Una McCormack, making her record breaking tenth app...
Her First American by Lore Segal
23 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This episode explores the third novel by the nonagenarian American writer Lore Segal which was originally published in 1985 by Knopf and is due to be...
Season 3 Prequel
16 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The waiting is nearly over! Ahead of Backlisted Season 3 - and our tenth anniversary year - John, Andy and Nicky get together to chat about books, vin...
Autumn Journal by Louis MacNeice - Rerun
09 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A classic episode from 2018 with a new introduction. This week John and Andy are joined by actor and director Sam West and writer and academic Sophie ...
Absolute Beginners - Rerun
26 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Slang lexicographer extraordinaire Jonathon Green joins John and Andy in this episode originally recorded in 2016 to discuss Absolute Beginners, the c...
Summer Reading 2024
12 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Despite the team's somewhat complex relationship with the idea of ‘summer’, this episode is full of seasonal recommendations. Andy previews Inter...
Endless Night by Agatha Christie
29 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
At long last, it's our Agatha Christie show! We are joined by Caroline Crampton, writer and host of the Shedunnit podcast, and Laura Thompson, author ...
Marianne Dreams by Catherine Storr
16 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Children's writer Rachael King and novelist Richard Blandford join John and Andy for a discussion of Marianne Dreams by Catherine Storr, the eerie, ...
Gaining Ground by Joan Barfoot
26 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Author Rose Ruane (This Is Yesterday, Birding) picks Gaining Ground AKA Abra (1978) by Canadian feminist writer Joan Barfoot. One day, seemingly ...
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
17 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is the subject of this episode of Backlisted. Dr Martin Shaw and Dr Laura Varnam (hwaet Laura!) join Andy and John to...
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: The Original Radio Scripts by Douglas Adams
03 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The work of Douglas Adams - comic genius, futurologist and erstwhile hitchhiker - is the subject of this episode of Backlisted, in particular The Hit...
The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford
28 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Novelist Alex Michaelides (The Silent Patient, The Fury) joins Andy and John to discuss Ford Madox Ford's classic novel The Good Soldier (1915), a ...
Memento Mori by Muriel Spark
28 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
John Grindrod, author of Concretopia, joins John Mitchinson and Andy Miller to discuss Memento Mori, the third novel by Muriel Spark. They also pay tr...
Locklisted - Book Recommendation Special
13 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This episode is a free sample of our subscriber only show, Locklisted, because the next episode of Backlisted has been delayed through illness (though...
A Marsh Island by Sarah Orne Jewett
22 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
For this episode we are joined by the writer, Noreen Masud, author of the acclaimed memoir, A Flat Place (currently shortlisted for the Women’s Pr...
The Children of Men by P.D. James
08 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Novelist Andrew Hunter Murray and biographer Laura Thompson join us to discuss The Children of Men (1992), a dystopian thriller by the late P.D. Jam...
All My Pretty Ones by Anne Sexton
26 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Award-winning poet Emily Berry joins us to consider the work and troubled life of Anne Sexton. We focus on her brilliant second collection All My Pre...
Coffee Table Books
12 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This fully illustrated, lavishly produced episode of Backlisted represents the last word in coffee table books. Join John, Andy and Nicky as we dip in...
A Life in Movies by Michael Powell
27 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This episode of Backlisted is devoted to A Life in Movies (1986), the first volume of memoirs of the filmmaker Michael Powell who, with his partner ...
Scouse Mouse by George Melly
13 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This episode was recorded in the great city of Liverpool and celebrates the life and work of a great Liverpudlian: George Melly, sometime writer, jazz...
Love On The Dole by Walter Greenwood
30 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We are joined by the writer Andrew Hankinson to discuss Walter Greenwood’s classic novel of Northern working-class life. First published in 1933, L...
Stone Angel by Margaret Laurence
16 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
For this first episode of 2024 we are joined by the chair of Virago Press, Lennie Goodings to discuss a novel by her fellow Canadian, Margaret Laurenc...
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
25 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
For this year’s Backlisted Christmas Special we are joined by the poet and novelist Clare Pollard and our producer Nicky Birch to discuss not just a...
Briggflatts by Basil Bunting
12 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s episode focusses on a single long poem – Briggflatts by the Northumbrian poet Basil Bunting. It was recorded live in St Mary’s Church, W...
Trustee From The Toolroom by Nevil Shute
28 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
For our 200th episode, we are joined by Richard Osman: television presenter, longtime Backlisted listener, and one of the bestselling authors in the w...
Plays, Books and Stories: Samuel Beckett
14 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we feature the life and work of Samuel Beckett, one of the most important and influential voices of 20th century literature. We discu...
Ghost Stories Of An Antiquary by M.R. James
31 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Pour yourself a glass of sherry and light a candle, as we dedicate this year's Halloween special to Ghost Stories of an Antiquary (1904), the first co...
What Have We Been Reading? - October 2023
23 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This is a new books special episode to fill the gap before we release the Hallowe’en episode next weekend and as part of our episode 200 celebration...
The True History of the First Mrs Meredith by Diane Johnson
09 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Episode #197 is dedicated to our late friend Carmen Callil, the founder of Virago, an author in her own right and, on a couple of memorable occasions,...
Esther Waters by George Moore
25 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode we discuss the controversial and ground-breaking novel, Esther Waters by the Irish novelist George Moore. We are joined by Tom Cr...
Galapágos by Kurt Vonnegut
12 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode we are delighted to welcome 2023 Booker Prize Winner Shehan Karunatilaka to discuss Kurt Vonnegut’s eleventh novel, Galapágos. Fir...
A Kestrel For a Knave by Barry Hines (from Green Man Festival)
28 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Author and illustrator Rose Blake and writer and musician Bob Stanley (Saint Etienne) joined Andy and John at the Greenman festival in Wales on August...
Summer Reading Special
14 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This week, to mix things up a little, it’s our annual round-up of books, old and new, you might enjoy over the summer. John, Andy and Backlisted’s...
A Passage to India by E.M. Forster
31 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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The Millstone by Margaret Drabble
17 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Novelist Linda Grant and critic and editor Lucy Scholes return to Backlisted for a discussion of Margaret Drabble's third novel The Millstone, a book...
The Eustace Diamonds by Anthony Trollope
03 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We are joined on this episode by authors Jennifer Egan (A Visit from the Goon Squad) and Nell Stevens (Briefly, A Delicious Life), who last featured o...
The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammet
19 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We are joined by the crime novelist Mark Billingham to discuss his favourite book, The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett. First serialised in Black M...
Giordano Bruno and the Embassy Affair by John Bossy
29 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
For this episode we are joined by the critic and former literary editor of the Independent on Sunday, Suzi Feay and the novelist and former Deputy Lit...
Graham Greene
15 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The whole of the next hour and a bit is dedicated to the work of Graham Greene – a writer we have long wanted to tackle. We cover several represent...
Rerun: All The Devils Are Here by David Seabrook
01 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Rachel Cooke, Observer writer, New Statesman TV critic and author joined John, Andy and former host Mathew way back in 2016 to discuss All The Devils ...
American Books Special
17 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to the fourth Backlisted Special. While Andy and Nicky are both ‘gathering’ for the new season which will resume at the end of the month, ...
So Long, See You Tomorrow by William Maxwell - rerun
03 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
John introduces a rerun of an episode from November 2016, where Costa First Book nominee for My Name Is Leon, Kit de Waal joins John & Andy to discuss...
Archive Books Special
21 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to the third Backlisted Special. John and Nicky are joined by literary agents Becky Brown and Norah Perkins returning for their third appearan...
Good Morning, Midnight by Jean Rhys - rerun
07 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This is the third in our re-released episodes – and only the second one we ever recorded. Has Jean Rhys’s reputation and influence grown since the...
Science Fiction Special
21 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to our second Backlisted special of 2023. Today we’re joined by the best-selling writer Una McCormack, returning for a record-breaking nint...
Fungus The Bogeyman by Raymond Briggs - Revisited
07 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In memory of Raymond Briggs we are replaying the episode where John and Andy were joined by author-illustrator Nadia Shireen and writer Andrew Male fo...
Backlisted Special - The books of our childhood
24 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to our first Backlisted special of 2023. Today we’re joined by the award-winning novelist and screenwriter Frank Cottrell-Boyce, an official...
The Tortoise and the Hare by Elizabeth Jenkins - rerun
10 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In memory of the great Carmen Callil, we are replaying the first of her two appearances on Backlisted. Joining Andy and John in this episode is Carmen...
Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild
25 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Merry Christmas Everyone! This year’s Backlisted Christmas special celebrates Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild, a classic of children’s literature...
The Awakening by Kate Chopin
13 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Awakening is an American classic, first published in 1899. The novel’s focus is the inner life of Edna Pontellier, a 29 year-old a married woman...
The Ice Palace by Tarjei Vesaas
29 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Ice Palace or Is-slottet by Tarjei Vesaas is a 20th century classic by one of Norway’s greatest modern writers. First published by Gyldendal in ...
The Springs of Affection by Maeve Brennan
15 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
There can be few writers more deserving of Backlisted’s attention than the Irish writer, Maeve Brennan. An adopted New Yorker, Brennan died there in...
The Altar of the Dead and Other Tales by Henry James
31 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This Hallowe’en episode of Backlisted focusses on the collection of ‘uncanny’ stories by Henry James, first gathered together under the title Th...
Full Tilt by Dervla Murphy
18 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Full Tilt: Ireland to India with a Bicycle by the Irish travel writer Dervla Murphy was first published in 1965 and is the first of Dervla Murphy’s ...
Roadside Picnic by Arkady & Boris Strugatsky
04 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Roadside Picnic, first published in 1972, is the best-known work of Russia’s most famous modern science fiction writers, Arkady & Boris Strugatsky, ...
North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
20 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
North and South is Elizabeth Gaskell’s fourth novel and considered by many to be her best. It tells the story of Margaret Hale, a principled young m...
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard
06 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Authors Jay Griffiths and Geoff Dyer are our guests for a discussion of Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. Annie Dillard was only twenty-nine when her first pro...
Lightning Rods by Helen DeWitt
02 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The second novel by by literary wunderkind, Helen DeWitt, Lightning Rods is probably the most challenging book we’ve yet featured on Backlisted. Usu...
The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham
19 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It's sixty-five years since John Wyndham published The Midwich Cuckoos, the fourth in his hugely successful series of science fiction novels that bega...
The Kingdom by the Sea by Paul Theroux
05 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Forty years ago the writer Paul Theroux hoisted his knapsack on his back and set off on a journey on foot around the coast of the United Kingdom; the ...
Titus Groan, Gormenghast and Titus Alone by Mervyn Peake
21 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Novelist Joanne Harris (Chocolat, A Narrow Door) is our guest for a celebration of Titus Groan (1946), Gormenghast (1950) and Titus Alone (1959) by Me...
The Death of the Heart by Elizabeth Bowen
23 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Tessa Hadley (Free Love, Late in the Day) joins us for a discussion of The Death of the Heart (1938), the sixth novel by Anglo-Irish novelist Elizabet...
De Profundis by Oscar Wilde
09 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Our guest is Stephen Fry, writer, actor and polymath, who last week joined John and Andy in person to discuss Oscar Wilde's De Profundis, the essay ad...
Family Lexicon by Natalia Ginzburg
25 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Publisher Marigold Atkey and journalist Emily Rhodes join us for a discussion of Lessico famigliare, Natalia Ginzburg's novelistic memoir or autobiogr...
Escape to an Autumn Pavement and Jamaica by Andrew Salkey
11 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Our guests are both new to Backlisted: the legendary publisher, editor, writer Margaret Busby and the award-winning poet, Raymond Antrobus. They join ...
The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon
28 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Our guests are both Backlisted old hands: Professor Sarah Churchwell, Professor in American Literature and Chair of Public Understanding of the Humani...
Fungus the Bogeyman by Raymond Briggs
14 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We are joined by author-illustrator Nadia Shireen and writer Andrew Male for a smellybration of Fungus the Bogeyman (1977) by the great Raymond Briggs...
South Riding by Winifred Holtby
28 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Our guests are Tanya Kirk, Lead Curator of Printed Heritage Collections 1601-1900 at The British Library, and Backlisted's old friend Una McCormack, a...
Winter Reading II: Short Stories
21 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This episode of Backlisted features Andy, John and Nicky chatting about short stories and the perennial appeal of the form to both writers and readers...