Bookclub

Orhan Pamuk

02 May 2010

Contributed by Lukas

Orhan Pamuk, Turkey's most prominent writer and winner of the Nobel Prize for Fiction, joins James Naughtie and readers to discuss My Name is Red.The ...

Jeanette Winterson

04 Apr 2010

Contributed by Lukas

James Naughtie and readers talk to Jeanette Winterson about her breakthrough first novel Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, about a girl growing up in an...

Douglas Coupland

07 Mar 2010

Contributed by Lukas

James Naughtie and readers talk to Canadian author Douglas Coupland about his cult novel Generation X. First published in 1991, it became a worldwide ...

Alexander McCall Smith

03 Jan 2010

Contributed by Lukas

World-wide bestselling author Alexander McCall Smith meets readers to discuss the first in his series of humorous novels set in Edinburgh - 44 Scotlan...

John Irving

06 Dec 2009

Contributed by Lukas

James Naughtie and readers talk to celebrated American author John Irving about his novel, A Prayer for Owen Meany. The novel starts with a shock - th...

Linda Grant

01 Nov 2009

Contributed by Lukas

James Naughtie and readers talk to Linda Grant about her novel When I Lived in Modern Times, winner of the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2000. Linda is ...

Gillian Slovo

04 Oct 2009

Contributed by Lukas

James Naughtie and readers talk to Gillian Slovo about her novel Red Dust, a courtroom drama set in post-apartheid South Africa. Gillian is the daught...

Robert Macfarlane

06 Sep 2009

Contributed by Lukas

James Naughtie and readers talk to travel writer and literary critic Robert Macfarlane about his book The Wild Places, in which he sets out to discove...

CJ Sansom

02 Aug 2009

Contributed by Lukas

James Naughtie and readers meet the best-selling writer CJ Sansom. They discuss Dissolution, the first in his series of Tudor mysteries featuring the ...

Bernard MacLaverty

05 Jul 2009

Contributed by Lukas

James Naughtie and readers meet Northern Irish writer Bernard MacLaverty to discuss his Booker Prize-shortlisted novel Grace Notes, which concerns a y...

Kate Grenville

07 Jun 2009

Contributed by Lukas

Orange Prize winner Kate Grenville talks to James Naughtie about her novel The Secret River and answers questions from a group of readers. Told throug...

Xiaolu Guo

03 May 2009

Contributed by Lukas

James Naughtie and readers meet Chinese author Xiaolu Guo to talk about her novel A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers. It is a story about...

Andrew Motion

05 Apr 2009

Contributed by Lukas

As he prepares to leave the post, Andrew Motion talks to James Naughtie about his 10 years as Poet Laureate. He discusses his collection Public Proper...

AL Kennedy

01 Mar 2009

Contributed by Lukas

James Naughtie talks to the author and part-time stand-up comedian AL Kennedy about her 2007 Costa prize-winning novel, Day, the story of RAF gunner A...

Bernard Cornwell

01 Feb 2009

Contributed by Lukas

James Naughtie talks to the novelist Bernard Cornwell. He joins an audience of readers to discuss the first novel in his series set in Saxon England, ...

Oliver James

04 Jan 2009

Contributed by Lukas

James Naughtie talks to the psychologist Oliver James. He joins an audience of readers to put his case against 'affluenza', a virus which he says is s...

Amitav Ghosh

07 Dec 2008

Contributed by Lukas

James Naughtie talks to the Indian writer Amitav Ghosh. He joins an audience of readers to discuss his novel The Glass Palace.

Fay Weldon

02 Nov 2008

Contributed by Lukas

James Naughtie and Fay Weldon join an audience of readers to discuss her novel The Cloning of Joanna May, first published in 1989. She has written ove...

Michael Morpurgo

05 Oct 2008

Contributed by Lukas

James Naughtie talks to Michael Morpurgo about his novel Alone on a Wide, Wide Sea, inspired by the history of English orphans transported to Australi...

Gore Vidal - Point to Point Navigation

07 Sep 2008

Contributed by Lukas

James Naughtie talks to one of the great American men of letters - novelist, screenwriter, playwright, essayist, raconteur and notorious wit Gore Vida...

Colm Toibin

03 Aug 2008

Contributed by Lukas

Irish writer Colm Toibin joins James Naughtie and readers to discuss his Man Booker shortlisted novel The Master, a fictionalised account of five year...

Asne Seierstad

06 Jul 2008

Contributed by Lukas

With James Naughtie. Norwegian author Asne Seierstad discusses The Bookseller of Kabul, the novelisation of her time in Afghanistan as a foreign corre...

Jan Morris

01 Jun 2008

Contributed by Lukas

Jan Morris joins James Naughtie and readers to talk about her portrait of the city of Venice. The book, simply entitled Venice, was written nearly fif...

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

04 May 2008

Contributed by Lukas

Author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie joins James Naughtie and readers to talk about Half of a Yellow Sun, winner of last year's Orange Broadband Prize for ...

Simon Armitage

06 Apr 2008

Contributed by Lukas

Poet Simon Armitage joins James Naughtie and readers to discuss his translation of the Middle English epic Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

William Hague

02 Mar 2008

Contributed by Lukas

James Naughtie and an audience of readers are joined by William Hague to discuss his biography of William Pitt the Younger, who became the youngest ev...

Sarah Dunant

03 Feb 2008

Contributed by Lukas

James Naughtie and an audience of readers discuss Sarah Dunant's The Birth of Venus, an erotic thriller set in Renaissance Florence.

Alice Sebold

06 Jan 2008

Contributed by Lukas

James Naughtie and readers meet American author Alice Sebold to discuss her debut novel The Lovely Bones, which remained on the New York Times hardbac...

Thomas Keneally

02 Dec 2007

Contributed by Lukas

James Naughtie and readers meet the 1982 Booker Prize winner Thomas Keneally. The chosen book is Schindler's Ark, which remains one of the best evocat...

Barbara Kingsolver

04 Nov 2007

Contributed by Lukas

James Naughtie and an audience of readers discuss American author Barbara Kingsolver's novel The Poisonwood Bible.

James Robertson

07 Oct 2007

Contributed by Lukas

James Naughtie and an audience of readers talk to James Robertson about his historical novel Joseph Knight, winner of two major Scottish literary priz...

Armistead Maupin - Tales of the City

02 Sep 2007

Contributed by Lukas

James Naughtie and an audience of readers discuss Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City, which began as a newspaper column and became a best-selling se...

Colin Dexter

05 Aug 2007

Contributed by Lukas

James Naughtie and an audience of readers talk to Colin Dexter about The Remorseful Day, Chief Inspector Morse's last case.

Germaine Greer

01 Jul 2007

Contributed by Lukas

James Naughtie is joined by Germaine Greer to discuss her groundbreaking book The Female Eunuch. Published in 1970, the book changed women's lives and...

David Mitchell

03 Jun 2007

Contributed by Lukas

From the Hay Festival, James Naughtie and an audience of readers talk to David Mitchell about Cloud Atlas, the novel that made him an overnight litera...

Jodi Picoult

06 May 2007

Contributed by Lukas

James Naughtie and an audience talk to author Jodi Picoult. Her novel My Sister's Keeper is about a young girl who sues her parents for the right to m...

Jonathan Coe

01 Apr 2007

Contributed by Lukas

James Naughtie and an audience of readers talk to comic fiction author Jonathan Coe, who discusses his novel What A Carve Up!

Alison Weir

04 Mar 2007

Contributed by Lukas

Eleanor of Aquitaine was the most powerful and enigmatic woman of her age. Historian Alison Weir discusses her biography of Eleanor with James Naughti...

Val McDermid

04 Feb 2007

Contributed by Lukas

Val McDermid joins readers to discuss The Mermaids Singing, the story of a serial killer who stalks the gay subculture of a northern town. James Naugh...

Jonathan Franzen - The Corrections

07 Jan 2007

Contributed by Lukas

The author Jonathan Franzen discusses his novel The Corrections with James Naughtie and a group of readers at the British Library in London.

Salley Vickers

03 Dec 2006

Contributed by Lukas

James Naughtie discusses Miss Garnet's Angel with its author Salley Vickers. The novel tells the tale of a retired teacher discovering love and art in...

Lewis Wolpert

05 Nov 2006

Contributed by Lukas

Under discussion is the scientist Lewis Wolpert's account of his experience of depression in Malignant Sadness. Wolpert joins readers and James Naught...

Jane Gardam

01 Oct 2006

Contributed by Lukas

James Naughtie talks to author Jane Gardam about her book Old Filth.

Matthew Kneale

03 Sep 2006

Contributed by Lukas

James Naughtie is joined by author Matthew Kneale, whose book English Passengers won Whitbread Book of the Year in 2000. They discuss this rampant and...

Elmore Leonard

06 Aug 2006

Contributed by Lukas

In the 100th edition of Bookclub, James Naughtie is joined by American crime writer Elmore Leonard to discuss his book Rum Punch. The novel is set in ...

John Berendt

02 Jul 2006

Contributed by Lukas

James Naughtie is joined by John Berendt to talk about his book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. The story tells of what John Berendt experien...

Lindsey Davis

04 Jun 2006

Contributed by Lukas

James Naughtie is joined by Lindsey Davis to discuss her thriller Time to Depart, about investigator Marcus Didius Falco, a kind of 1950s gumshoe dete...

Ali Smith

07 May 2006

Contributed by Lukas

James Naughtie is joined in Brighton by novelist Ali Smith to talk about her book Hotel World.

Malorie Blackman

02 Apr 2006

Contributed by Lukas

Malorie Blackman joins James Naughtie and readers to discuss Noughts and Crosses, her novel set in an alternative reality in which people are either a...

Lionel Shriver - We Need to Talk About Kevin

05 Mar 2006

Contributed by Lukas

Lionel Shriver joins James Naughtie and a studio audience to discuss her book We Need to Talk About Kevin, a novel about an unloved son who grows up t...

P J O'Rourke

05 Feb 2006

Contributed by Lukas

James Naughtie is joined by American satirist P J O'Rourke to discuss Holidays in Hell, his account of his experiences as foreign correspondent for Ro...

George Macdonald Fraser

01 Jan 2006

Contributed by Lukas

James Naughtie is joined by George Macdonald Fraser to talk about his Flashman books which use Thomas Hughes' bully character from Tom Brown's Schoold...

Joyce Carol Oates

04 Dec 2005

Contributed by Lukas

American writer Joyce Carol Oates joins James Naughtie and readers to discuss We Were the Mulvaneys, the story of the break-up of a family after the r...

Antonia Fraser

06 Nov 2005

Contributed by Lukas

James Naughtie is joined by historian Antonia Fraser to discuss her book The Gunpowder Plot.

Hanif Kureishi

02 Oct 2005

Contributed by Lukas

Playwright, screenwriter, novelist and film-maker Hanif Kureishi discusses his semi-autobiographical book The Buddha of Suburbia with James Naughtie a...

Alain-Fournier

04 Sep 2005

Contributed by Lukas

Le Grand Meaulnes by Alain-Fournier was Radio 4's Classic Serial in August. The novel cast a spell over a whole generation of French readers in the tw...

Michael Dibdin

07 Aug 2005

Contributed by Lukas

James Naughtie talks to crime writer Michael Dibdin in front of a group of readers, about his novel Blood Rain, the ninth in his Aurelio Zen series.

Oliver Sacks

03 Jul 2005

Contributed by Lukas

James Naughtie talks to Dr Oliver Sacks about The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat, a collection of case studies into neurological disorders, all wr...

Sue Townsend

05 Jun 2005

Contributed by Lukas

James Naughtie is joined by Sue Townsend to discuss the life of her best loved comic creation Adrian Mole.

Andrea Levy

01 May 2005

Contributed by Lukas

Andrea Levy, who won last year's Orange Prize and Whitbread Prize for her novel Small Island joins readers to discuss the book.

Richard Ford

03 Apr 2005

Contributed by Lukas

James Naughtie is joined by American writer Richard Ford to discuss his novel, Independence Day.

Stephen Fry

06 Mar 2005

Contributed by Lukas

The multi-talented Stephen Fry discusses and reads from his acclaimed novel The Hippopotamus, about a failed poet turned whiskey-sodden critic.

Bill Bryson

06 Feb 2005

Contributed by Lukas

James Naughtie talks to author Bill Bryson about his book A Short History of Nearly Everything.

Zadie Smith

02 Jan 2005

Contributed by Lukas

James Naughtie talks to Zadie Smith about the impact of her debut novel White Teeth.

Carol Ann Duffy

05 Dec 2004

Contributed by Lukas

James Naughtie's guest is Carol Ann Duffy, one of the most widely read British poets, talking about her inventive and funny collection, The World's Wi...

Pat Barker

07 Nov 2004

Contributed by Lukas

Booker prize winner Pat Barker joins James Naughtie to discuss Regeneration, her novel about the impact of the First World War on a variety of charact...

Will Self

07 Oct 2004

Contributed by Lukas

Will Self talks to James Naughtie and readers about his novel How The Dead Live.

Paul Auster - New York Trilogy

05 Sep 2004

Contributed by Lukas

James Naughtie speaks to author Paul Auster about the novellas in his New York Trilogy and their themes of identity, mystery and ambiguity.

Muriel Spark

01 Aug 2004

Contributed by Lukas

James Naughtie and a group of readers are joined by Muriel Spark to discuss her novel The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.

Terry Pratchett

04 Jul 2004

Contributed by Lukas

James Naughtie presents a special interview with Terry Pratchett to talk about Mort, his fourth installment of the Discworld series.

Minette Walters

06 Jun 2004

Contributed by Lukas

James Naughtie presents a book discussion as Minette Walters talks with readers about her new novel The Scold's Bridle.

David Lodge

02 May 2004

Contributed by Lukas

David Lodge is both a leading comic novelist and a renowned literary critic. He dicusses his novel Nice Work with James Naughtie.

Elizabeth Jane Howard

04 Apr 2004

Contributed by Lukas

Elizabeth Jane Howard joins James Naughtie and a group of readers to discuss her book Falling, based on a real life failed relationship.

Sarah Waters

07 Mar 2004

Contributed by Lukas

Sarah Waters, creator of Victorian romps, joins James Naughtie to talk about Fingersmith, a gothic tale of crime, swapped identities and mysterious pa...

Peter Carey

01 Feb 2004

Contributed by Lukas

Peter Carey joins James Naughtie and a group of readers, to discuss his novel the True History of the Kelly Gang.

Sir John Mortimer

04 Jan 2004

Contributed by Lukas

Sir John Mortimer joins James Naughtie and a group of readers to discuss Rumpole and the Younger Generation as well as his first volume of memoirs.

Peter Ackroyd

07 Dec 2003

Contributed by Lukas

Peter Ackroyd joins James Naughtie and a group of readers to discuss, and read from, his spooky novel Hawksmoor.

Esther Freud

02 Nov 2003

Contributed by Lukas

James Naughtie and a group of readers talk to Esther Freud about her semi-autobiographical first novel Hideous Kinky.

Melvin Burgess

05 Oct 2003

Contributed by Lukas

Melvin Burgess joins James Naughtie and a group of younger readers to discuss Junk, his hard hiting novel about teenage runaways and heroin. Recorded ...

Edna O'Brien

07 Sep 2003

Contributed by Lukas

Edna O'Brien joins James Naughtie and a group of readers at the British Library to talk about her book Down by the River.

Amanda Foreman

03 Aug 2003

Contributed by Lukas

Amanda Foreman joins James Naughtie and a group of readers to talk about her hugely sucessful biography of the 18th century socialite, Georgina, Duche...

T. C. Boyle

06 Jul 2003

Contributed by Lukas

James Naughtie and a group of readers talk to T. C. Boyle about his novel The Tortilla Curtain.

Sally Beauman

01 Jun 2003

Contributed by Lukas

Sally Beauman, author of the story of the first Mrs De Winter in Rebecca's Tale, joins James Naughtie and a group of readers at the Daphne Du Maurier ...

P. D. James

04 May 2003

Contributed by Lukas

James Naughtie and an audience of readers meets crime writer P. D. James to discuss her novel Original Sin. Recorded at Shakespeare's Globe theatre in...

Beryl Bainbridge

06 Apr 2003

Contributed by Lukas

James Naughtie and an audience of readers meet the distinguished novelist Beryl Bainbridge to discuss her novel An Awfully Big Adventure, which draws ...

William Trevor

02 Mar 2003

Contributed by Lukas

William Trevor, long recognised as a master of the short story, talks to James Naughtie and an audience about his collection After Rain. Reading by t...

Salman Rushdie

02 Feb 2003

Contributed by Lukas

James Naughtie presents a discussion with Salman Rushdie about his Booker Prize-winning novel Midnight's Children.

Alan Bennett

05 Jan 2003

Contributed by Lukas

James Naughtie and an audience of readers meet the much-loved author Alan Bennett to discuss his memoir Writing Home.

Jilly Cooper

01 Dec 2002

Contributed by Lukas

James Naughtie and a group of readers at Beaufort Polo Club, talk to bestselling author Jilly Cooper about her racy novel Polo.

Jacqueline Wilson

03 Nov 2002

Contributed by Lukas

James Naughtie and a younger than usual audience meet bestselling children's author Jacqueline Wilson to discuss her award-winning book the Illustrate...

Barbara Vine 

06 Oct 2002

Contributed by Lukas

Barbara Vine, otherwise known as Ruth Rendell, meets James Naughtie and a small audience at a Readers' Day in Scunthorpe to talk about her haunting no...

William Dalrymple

01 Sep 2002

Contributed by Lukas

James Naughtie and a studio audience talk to travel writer William Dalrymple about his book From the Holy Mountain.

Maya Angelou

04 Aug 2002

Contributed by Lukas

James Naughtie and a studio audience talk to Maya Angelou about volume one of her groundbreaking autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.

David Grossman

07 Jul 2002

Contributed by Lukas

A group of readers join James Naughtie to talk to David Grossman about his book See Under Love.

Michael Frayn

02 Jun 2002

Contributed by Lukas

James Naughtie and a studio audience meet Michael Frayn to talk about Headlong, his prize-winning romp through the corrupt corridors of the art world ...

Mario Vargas Llosa

05 May 2002

Contributed by Lukas

James Naughtie talks to one of South America's leading writers Mario Vargas Llosa, about his remarkable novel Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter.

Kazuo Ishiguro

07 Apr 2002

Contributed by Lukas

A group of readers join James Naughtie to talk to Kazuo Ishiguro about The Remains of The Day, his acclaimed novel about life above and below stairs i...

Rose Tremain

03 Mar 2002

Contributed by Lukas

James Naughtie and a studio audience meet Rose Tremain to discuss her winner of the 1999 Whitbread Novel award about 17th century Denmark, Music and S...

J G Ballard

03 Feb 2002

Contributed by Lukas

James Naughtie and a studio audience talk to acclaimed writer J G Ballard about his classic Second World War novel Empire of the Sun.

Ian Rankin

10 Jan 2002

Contributed by Lukas

James Naughtie and a group of readers meet bestselling Edinburgh crime writer Ian Rankin in Inspector Rebus' favourite watering hole The Oxford Bar to...