As Salman Rushdie publishes a new story collection, we take a comprehensive look at the extraordinary literary career that has established him as one of Britain's most important contemporary authors. From his dazzling Booker Prize winner to his harrowing account of the 2022 attack that nearly killed him, here is our definitive ranking of Rushdie's ten best books.
The Early Years: Finding a Voice
Beginning his literary journey in 1975, Salman Rushdie published his debut novel Grimus, a science fiction story about an immortal Indian who travels to a mysterious island. Though Rushdie now says it makes him want to "hide behind the furniture," this first effort showed glimpses of the writer he would become: garrulous, playful, and energetic. The novel remains a fascinating beginning to what would become a stellar career.
His 2019 novel Quichotte demonstrates Rushdie's enduring love for pop culture, reimagining Don Quixote with references ranging from Back to the Future to Starsky & Hutch. The story features a character driven mad by excessive television watching, whose narrative is itself being written by a washed-up spy novelist. This layered, hyperactive novel showcases Rushdie at his most referential and entertaining.
Literary Triumphs and Controversy
Following his groundbreaking success, Rushdie published The Moor's Last Sigh in 1995, his first novel for adults after The Satanic Verses prompted Iran's supreme leader to issue a fatwa against him in 1989. This dam-burst of pent-up ideas tells the story of "Moor" Zogoiby, the ousted heir to a crooked spice dynasty. Shortlisted for the Booker Prize, the novel's publication required unusual security measures, with that year's winner Pat Barker recalling "lots of men with bulging armpits standing round."
Often overshadowed by its predecessor, 1983's Shame represents one of Rushdie's finest achievements. This shorter, tighter, and darker novel set in "not quite Pakistan" delivers a satire that is both over-the-top and deadly serious. Ironically, Shame won a major prize in Iran for best translated novel of the year, giving no indication of how the country's leadership would respond to his next work.
The controversial Satanic Verses from 1988 has seen its extra-literary reaction obscure its brilliance as a novel. Opening with two actors falling through the air over England after their plane is blown up, the story follows their miraculous survival and subsequent metamorphoses. The novel remains particularly relevant for its powerful take on the immigrant experience in Britain and the demonisation of others.
Masterpieces and Personal Trials
Rushdie's 1990 children's book Haroun and the Sea of Stories emerged during his darkest period, when he was ready to give up writing. Created after promising his son a book, this fable about a storyteller doomed to silence distils Rushdie's greatest qualities into his lightest, brightest achievement. The book clearly reflects his own experiences, contrasting the joy of stories with their capacity to "make trouble."
His 2024 memoir Knife provides a gripping account of the attempted murder he survived on stage in New York in 2022. Rushdie recalls thinking "So it's you" as a man in black rushed toward him. The book offers a sometimes gruelling narrative of his recovery, including how his wife prevented him from looking in a mirror to avoid sapping his spirit. Yet it's peppered with Rushdie's characteristic humour and displays a rare softness in its beautiful praise for his wife and late friend Martin Amis.
In his 2012 memoir Joseph Anton, Rushdie chronicles his time under the Ayatollah's death threat with surprising comic mastery. Writing in the third person, he shares unforgettable anecdotes, from biting back at Roald Dahl to suffering through Harold Pinter faxing him terrible poems.
Shalimar the Clown from 2005 stands as Rushdie's best novel of the 21st century, addressing the murder of an American ambassador to India by a Kashmiri named Shalimar the Clown. This powerful exploration of political violence and colliding worlds becomes both a page-turning thriller and moving tragedy that even brought its author to tears during writing.
The Unforgettable Masterpiece
Topping our ranking is Midnight's Children, Rushdie's 1981 novel that follows Saleem Sinai, born at the exact moment of Indian independence from British rule. Knowing he had to pull out all the stops after his debut received a "critical beating," Rushdie created a flood of language that teems "fastfast" down the page, pulling readers helplessly along.
The novel won not only the Booker Prize in 1981 but also the Booker of Bookers in 1993 and the Best of the Booker in 2008. Anita Desai perfectly captured its significance, calling it "the voice of a new age." This incredible achievement opened doors for the next generation of writers and remains a book with room for everything and everyone, cementing Rushdie's place in literary history.
