Backlisted

Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers

07 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Authors Harriet Evans (The Beloved Girls) and Francesca Wade (Square Haunting) join us to celebrate Dorothy L. Sayers's 'novel not without detection' ...

Finishing the Hat and Look, I Made a Hat by Stephen Sondheim

24 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Stephen Sondheim's biographer David Benedict and writer and musician Jason Hazeley join us for a special episode devoted to Finishing the Hat and Look...

Winter Reading 2022

10 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Happy New Year! We begin 2022 with a stack of books to see us through the winter: poetry, history, fiction and science. Andy, John and Nicky discuss a...

The Railway Children by E. Nesbit

25 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Merry Xmas everybody! Our friends Katherine Rundell and Frank Cottrell-Boyce, two wonderful guest authors, join us to celebrate the life and work of E...

Deadwood by Pete Dexter

13 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Authors Shawn Levy (A Year in the Life of Death, Rat Pack Confidential) and Erica Wagner (Chief Engineer, Gravity) join us to discuss US writer Pete D...

The Godwits Fly by Robin Hyde

29 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Our guest is author Paula Morris, who joins us from Auckland to discuss the novel The Godwits Fly (1938) and the life of its author Iris Wilkinson AKA...

Notes from Under the Floorboards AKA Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky

15 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome to the 150th episode of Backlisted! To mark the occasion we are joined by authors Alex Christofi (Dostoevsky in Love) and Arifa Akbar (Consume...

Treacle Walker by Alan Garner

08 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This is a Backlisted special, recorded at the Bodleian Library in Oxford to celebrate the publication of Treacle Walker the new novel by Alan Garner (...

Something in Disguise by Elizabeth Jane Howard

30 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

For this year's Hallowe'en special we're joined by Backlisted's old fiends Andrew Male and Laura Varnam, following previous guest appearances on episo...

Cassandra at the Wedding by Dorothy Baker

18 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Our guests are publisher Alexandra Pringle and Simon Thomas, editor and co-host of the Tea or Books? podcast. They are here to discuss Cassandra at th...

The Dream Songs by John Berryman

04 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Joining us on Backlisted this week is novelist and memoirist Susie Boyt (My Judy Garland Life, Loved and Missed). The book Susie has chosen for us to ...

Elizabeth Costello by J.M. Coetzee

20 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We are joined by novelist Mary Costello for a special episode recorded live at Galway International Arts Festival in Ireland on September 10th 2021. T...

Summer Reading 2021

06 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

It’s time for our annual look at what we’ve been reading over the summer break. John, Andy and Nicky discuss David Keenan’s fourth novel Monumen...

Fat City by Leonard Gardner

05 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Perhaps the greatest boxing novel ever written, Leonard Gardner's Fat City was first published in 1969; it was shortlisted for the National Book Award...

Heart of the Original By Steve Aylett

19 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Joining us on Backlisted this week is writer John Higgs, whose fascinating new book William Blake Vs The World is out now. We were thrilled John chose...

In a Lonely Place by Dorothy B. Hughes

05 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Returning to Backlisted this week are literary agents Becky Brown and Norah Perkins, joint custodians of the Curtis Brown Heritage list of literary es...

Are You Somebody? by Nuala O'Faolain

21 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Joining John and Andy this week is novelist and host of the books podcast Sentimental Garbage, Caroline O'Donoghue (Promising Young Women, Scenes of a...

A Goat's Song by Dermot Healy

07 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Joining John and Andy this week are novelist Patrick McCabe (The Butcher Boy, Breakfast on Pluto, Winterwood) and Unbound's editor-at-large Rachael Ke...

The Evenings by Gerard Reve

24 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Joining John and Andy this week are novelist Marie Phillips (Gods Behaving Badly, Oh, I Do Like To Be...) and novelist, screenwriter and poet Joe Dunt...

The Plague and I by Betty MacDonald

10 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Joining John and Andy this week are Natasha McEnroe, the Keeper of Medicine at the Science Museum in London, and novelist Lissa Evans, Backlisted's ol...

The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Laurence Sterne

26 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman AKA Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne is the subject of this years-in-the-making episode of Backl...

Água Viva by Clarice Lispector

12 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Clarice Lispector's Água Viva is the subject of this episode of Backlisted. Like several of Lispector's remarkable novels, this slim book caused a se...

The Fish Can Sing by Halldór Laxness

01 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The Fish Can Sing by Halldór Laxness is the subject of this episode. The book was first published in Iceland as Brekkukotsannáll in 1957, two years ...

Daddy's Gone A-Hunting by Penelope Mortimer

15 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Penelope Mortimer's fourth novel Daddy's Gone A-Hunting (1958) is the subject of this episode of Backlisted. Joining John and Andy to discuss Mortimer...

Miss Pym Disposes by Josephine Tey

01 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Josephine Tey's classic mystery Miss Pym Disposes (1946) is the subject of this special episode of Backlisted, recorded as part of Aberdeen's Granite ...

Job: The Story of a Simple Man by Joseph Roth

15 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Joseph Roth's Job: The Story of a Simple Man (1930) is the subject of this episode of Backlisted. Joining John and Andy to explore this austere and po...

Locklisted: Teenage Books Special

08 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This Locklisted episode is the sequel to our earlier Children's Books Special. It was recorded in August 2020 and was previously available exclusively...

Karoo by Steve Tesich

01 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Karoo (1998), a posthumously-published cult novel by screenwriter and playwright Steve Tesich is the subject of this episode of Backlisted. Joining Jo...

The Bloater by Rosemary Tonks

18 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Rosemary Tonks is the subject of this episode of Backlisted. Our starting point is her fascinating third novel The Bloater (1968) - which is long out ...

Locklisted: Children's Books Special, Part One

11 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This Locklisted special on children's books was recorded in August 2020 and was previously available exclusively to supporters of our Patreon at patre...

The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper

25 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Susan Cooper's magical novel The Dark Is Rising (1973) is the subject of a bumper Christmas special episode of Backlisted. Joining John and Andy to di...

The Victorian Chaise-longue by Marghanita Laski

07 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The Victorian Chaise-longue (1953) is a terrifying short novel by the writer, broadcaster and lexicographer Marghanita Laski. Joining Andy and John is...

The Compleet Molesworth by Geoffrey Willans & Ronald Searle

23 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The Compleet Molesworth (1958) by Geoffrey Willans and Ronald Searle is the beloved book we're celebrating in this special fifth birthday episode of B...

Doctor Who and the Brain of Morbius by Terrance Dicks

09 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Doctor Who and the Brain of Morbius (1977) by Terrance Dicks is the much-loved book featured in this episode of Backlisted. Joining John and Andy to d...

Beowulf

26 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

It's our Hallowe'en special ! For this year’s Hallowe’en episode our subject is the Old English poem, Beowulf, composed somewhere in England more ...

Silence by Shūsaku Endō

12 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Silence (1966) is Shūsaku Endō’s masterpiece, a novel set in 17th Japan, following two Portuguese Jesuits posted there to search for their former ...

The Odd Women By George Gissing

28 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

George Gissing's The Odd Women (1893) is the groundbreaking book featured in this episode of Backlisted. Joining John and Andy to discuss this fascina...

Thérèse Raquin by Émile Zola

14 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Thérèse Raquin (1868), the third novel by French writer Émile Zola, is the book featured in this episode of Backlisted. Joining John and Andy to di...

I, Lalla: The Poems of Lal Dĕd

31 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

I, Lalla: The Poems of Lal Dĕd, translated by Ranjit Hoskote, is the subject of this episode of Backlisted. Joining John and Andy to discuss this mod...

Summer Reading 2020

17 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

It's a summer reading episode of Backlisted. We are showcasing books John, Andy and the show's producer Nicky have been reading during lockdown. These...

The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James

03 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

William James's The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902) is the groundbreaking book featured in this episode of Backlisted. Joining John and Andy ...

How to Cook a Wolf by M.F.K. Fisher

20 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

How to Cook a Wolf (1942) by the inimitable M.F.K. Fisher is the book featured in this episode of Backlisted. Joining John and Andy to heed this call ...

The Diary of a Nobody by George and Weedon Grossmith

06 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The Diary of a Nobody (1892) by George and Weedon Grossmith is the book featured in this episode of Backlisted. Joining John and Andy to celebrate thi...

The Inheritors by William Golding

22 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

William Golding's second novel The Inheritors (1955) is the book featured in this episode of Backlisted. Joining John and Andy to explore this intense...

The Constant Nymph by Margaret Kennedy

08 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Margaret Kennedy's bestselling novel The Constant Nymph (1924) is the book featured in this episode of Backlisted. Joining John and Andy to discuss th...

Frost in May by Antonia White

25 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Antonia White's debut novel Frost in May(1933) is the book under discussion in this episode of Backlisted. Joining John and Andy to discuss this power...

The World According to Garp by John Irving

11 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

John Irving's fourth novel The World According to Garp (1978) is the subject of this episode of Backlisted. Joining John and Andy to explore this unli...

The Journal of a Disappointed Man by W.N.P. Barbellion

26 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

W.N.P Barbellion's The Journal of a Disappointed Man, first published in 1919, is the subject of this episode of Backlisted. Joining John and Andy to ...

Excellent Women by Barbara Pym

12 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We're back! Barbara Pym's second novel Excellent Women, first published in 1952, is the subject of this episode of Backlisted. Joining John and Andy t...

A La Recherche du Temps Perdu by Marcel Proust

25 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Marcel Proust's A La Recherche du Temps Perdu AKA In Search of Lost Time is the subject of this bumper Christmas special episode, which was recorded l...

Riceyman Steps by Arnold Bennett

09 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Arnold Bennett's 1923 novel Riceyman Steps is the subject of this episode. Joining John and Andy to discuss it are journalist Charlotte Higgins and no...

Edith's Diary by Patricia Highsmith

25 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Patricia Highsmith's novel Edith's Diary (1977) is the book under discussion. John and Andy are joined by writers Karen McLeod and John Grindrod. Plus...

The Rings of Saturn by W.G. Sebald

11 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

W.G. Sebald's book The Rings of Saturn, first published in Germany in 1995, is the subject of this episode. Joining John and Andy to walk around this ...

The Breaking Point by Daphne du Maurier

28 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

It's Halloween! Daphne du Maurier's The Breaking Point AKA The Blue Lenses is a collection of psychological horror stories that was first published in...

Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner

14 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Absalom, Absalom! is the subject of this episode and William Faukner's ninth novel first published in 1936. Returning to Backlisted as our guest is Pr...

The Soul of Kindness by Elizabeth Taylor

30 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Novelist Elizabeth Taylor is the subject of this episode of Backlisted. Joining Andy and John to discuss The Soul of Kindness (1964) - and much more b...

Of Walking in Ice by Werner Herzog

16 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Filmmaker Werner Herzog's journal Of Walking in Ice is the subject of this episode, recorded at the End of the Road festival at Larmer Tree Gardens in...

The Anatomy of Melancholy by Robert Burton

02 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Philip Pullman is our guest on the 100th episode of Backlisted. John, Andy and Nicky travelled to Oxford for this special episode devoted to Robert Bu...

Books about The Beatles

19 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Books about the Beatles are the subject of this special episode recorded at Cornwall's Port Eliot festival on July 27th 2019. Joining John and Andy fo...

Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban

05 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Russell Hoban's extraordinary novel Riddley Walker (1980) is the subject of this episode recorded live at the Port Eliot Festival in Cornwall on Frida...

The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury

22 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Ray Bradbury's uncanny tales are the subject of this episode of Backlisted. John and Andy are joined by author and literary editor of The Spectator Sa...

Miss Buncle's Book by D.E. Stevenson

08 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Miss Buncle's Book by D.E. Stevenson, a bestseller when first published in the 1930s, is the novel under discussion. Joining John and Andy is novelist...

The Baron in the Trees by Italo Calvino

24 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Italo Calvino's third novel The Baron in the Trees (Il barone rampante) is the subject of this episode. Joining John and Andy to discuss the book is w...

The Prince of West End Avenue by Alan Isler

10 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Alan Isler's debut novel The Prince of West End Avenue (1994) is the subject of this episode of Backlisted. Joining Andy and John to discuss it are no...

Beloved by Toni Morrison

27 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Award-winning novelist Preti Taneja (We That Are Young) joins John and Andy to discuss Beloved by Toni Morrison, one of the greatest American novels o...

The Book of Ebenezer Le Page by G.B. Edwards

13 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

John and Andy are joined by writer and actor Will Smith for a special episode recorded live at the Guernsey Literary Festival on Sunday May 5th 2019. ...

A Journal of the Plague Year by Daniel Defoe

29 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel Defoe's A Journal of the Plague Year (1722) is the subject of this episode of Backlisted, recorded in the week of the 300th anniversary of the ...

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

15 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Charles Dickens's late masterpiece Great Expectations is the subject of this episode of Backlisted. Joining John and Andy to discuss the book (and its...

Last Train to Memphis/Careless Love by Peter Guralnick

01 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Elvis Presley is the subject of this episode of Backlisted, care of Peter Guralnick's twin biographies Last Train to Memphis (1994) and Careless Love ...

Human Voices by Penelope Fitzgerald

18 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Penelope Fitzgerald's fourth novel Human Voices (1980) is set at the BBC during the early months of the Second World War. Joining John and Andy to dis...

Utz by Bruce Chatwin

04 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

This episode is about Utz, Bruce Chatwin's final novel, shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1988. John and Andy are joined by writer and journalist Jo...

The Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West

18 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode John and Andy are joined by novelist and critic Amanda Craig and novelist and memoirist Alice Jolly to discuss Rebecca West's debut no...

Hemlock and After by Angus Wilson

04 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

John and Andy are joined by writer, dandy and erstwhile musician Dickon Edwards to discuss Hemlock and After, Angus Wilson's debut novel, originally p...

Imogen by Jilly Cooper

21 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

John and Andy are joined by author and podcaster Daisy Buchanan and poet and lecturer Dr Ian Patterson to discuss Imogen, Jilly Cooper's 1978 novel of...

The Rainbow by D.H. Lawrence

07 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In our first podcast of 2019 we tackle D.H. Lawrence's The Rainbow, a novel that has divided opinion since it was first published (and banned) in 1915...

Books Do Furnish a Room by Anthony Powell

25 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

John and Andy are joined by novelist Philip Hensher and biographer Hilary Spurling for a discussion of Books Do Furnish a Room by Anthony Powell, firs...

Harpo Speaks! by Harpo Marx with Rowland Barber

10 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

John and Andy are joined by Dan Schreiber, writer, producer and co-host of the No Such Thing As A Fish podcast, to discuss Harpo Marx's autobiography ...

The Tortoise and the Hare by Elizabeth Jenkins

26 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Andy and John are joined by Carmen Callil, publisher, writer and critic and founder of Virago Press, to discuss The Tortoise and the Hare by Elizabeth...

Moominvalley in November by Tove Jansson

12 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

This week John and Andy are joined by award-winning children's author and screenwriter Frank Cottrell-Boyce and publisher and co-founder of Sort Of Bo...

Ghosts by Edith Wharton

29 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

It's Halloween and John and Andy are joined by novelist Lissa Evans and Backlisted's resident revenant, critic Andrew Male, to discuss Ghosts, Edith W...

Autumn Journal by Louis MacNeice

15 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

This week John and Andy are joined by actor and director Sam West and writer and academic Sophie Ratcliffe to talk about Louis MacNeice's Autumn Journ...

The Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy

01 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

This week John and Andy are joined by novelist and literary journalist Sarra Manning (author of The Rise and Fall of Becky Sharp) to discuss Elaine Du...

Ulverton by Adam Thorpe

17 Sep 2018

Contributed by Lukas

For a special episode recorded at the End of the Road festival in Dorset, John and Andy are joined by author and critic Tom Cox to talk about Adam Tho...

A Girl in Winter by Philip Larkin

03 Sep 2018

Contributed by Lukas

For the final episode recorded at this year's Port Eliot festival in Cornwall, John and Andy are joined by authors Nina Stibbe and returning guest Sim...

The Lion and the Unicorn by George Orwell

20 Aug 2018

Contributed by Lukas

For the second of three episodes recorded at the Port Eliot festival in Cornwall, John and Andy are joined by songwriter and activist Billy Bragg and ...

How to Talk About Books You Haven't Read by Pierre Bayard

06 Aug 2018

Contributed by Lukas

For the first of three episodes recorded at this year's Port Eliot festival in Cornwall, John and Andy are joined by author Cathy Rentzenbrink and act...

The Return of the King by J. R. R. Tolkien

23 Jul 2018

Contributed by Lukas

John and Andy are joined by Unbound co-founder and co-author of Crap Towns Dan Kieran and returning guest Dr Una McCormack, NYT bestselling novelist a...

Drinking Coffee Elsewhere by ZZ Packer

09 Jul 2018

Contributed by Lukas

John and Andy are joined by writer and editor Nikesh Shukla to discuss Drinking Coffee Elsewhere, ZZ Packer's groundbreaking collection of stories, fi...

Told by an Idiot by Rose Macaulay

25 Jun 2018

Contributed by Lukas

This week John and Andy are joined by super-librarian Nancy Pearl, possibly the only librarian in the world to have their own action figure, to discus...

The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter

10 Jun 2018

Contributed by Lukas

For a special episode recorded at the Bath Festival, we discuss Angela Carter's astonishing collection The Bloody Chamber (1979), much of which was co...

My Ántonia by Willa Cather

28 May 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Hermione Lee joins John and Andy to discuss the work of American novelist Willa Cather and, in its centenary year, her pioneering novel My Ántonia. J...

The Fatal Englishman by Sebastian Faulks

13 May 2018

Contributed by Lukas

The poet Rishi Dastidar joins John and Andy to talk about Sebastian Faulks' least known and first non-fiction title, The Fatal Englishman: Three Short...

Corregidora by Gayl Jones

30 Apr 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Professor Sarah Churchwell introduces Andy and John to the phenomenal Corregidora by Gayl Jones, a book steeped in the blues and the American slavery...

The Lowlife by Alexander Baron

15 Apr 2018

Contributed by Lukas

John and Andy are at the dogs this week, discussing the 1963 cult novel The Lowlife by Alexander Baron. They are joined by London enthusiast Peter Wat...

Something Happened by Joseph Heller

02 Apr 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Authors Matt Thorne and Nikita Lalwani join John and Andy to discuss the ‘other’ masterpiece by Joseph Heller, Something Happened, first published...

The Town House by Norah Lofts

19 Mar 2018

Contributed by Lukas

This week John and Andy are joined by journalist and author Lucy Mangan, whose new memoir of childhood reading Bookworm has just been published by Squ...

Berg by Ann Quin

02 Mar 2018

Contributed by Lukas

This week Andy and John are joined by Jennifer Hodgson, editor of 'The Unmapped Country', a collection of British experimental writer Ann Quin's lost ...

Jesus' Son by Denis Johnson

19 Feb 2018

Contributed by Lukas

John and Andy welcome authors Chris Power and Erica Wagner to discuss the multiple interlocking stories in Jesus' Son by Denis Johnson, including the ...

Beyond Black by Hilary Mantel

28 Jan 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Critic and editor of Boundless Arifa Akbar joins John and Andy to discuss Hilary Mantel's tale of mediums and malevolence in the M25 corridor, Beyond ...

Lost Horizon by James Hilton

22 Jan 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Music producer, gallery owner and now novelist Tot Taylor joins John and Andy to discuss James Hilton's 1933 novel about an earthly paradise in the fa...