This is a list of notable works of dystopian literature. A dystopia is an unpleasant (typically repressive) society, often propagandized as being utopian. The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction states that dystopian works depict a negative view of "the way the world is supposedly going in order to provide urgent propaganda for a change in direction."
18th century
Gulliver's Travels (1726) by Jonathan Swift
19th century
The Last Man (1826) by Mary Shelley A Sojourn in the City of Amalgamation (1835) by Oliver Bolokitten The Tragedy of Man (1862) by Imre Madách Notes from Underground (1864) by Fyodor Dostoevsky The History of a Town (1870) by Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin Vril, the Power of the Coming Race (1871) by Edward Bulwer-Lytton, originally printed as The Coming RaceMarina Yaguello. Lunatic Lovers of language. Imaginary languages and their inventors. London: Athlone Press, 1991. 0-485-11303-1. p. 31. Erewhon (1872) by Samuel Butler The Begum's Fortune (1879) by Jules Verne The Fixed Period (1882) by Anthony Trollope The Republic of the Future (1887) by Anna Bowman DoddJean Pfaelzer (1984). The Utopian Novel in America 1886–1896: The Politics of Form. Pittsburgh, University of Pittsburgh Press; pp. 81–6. The Inner House (1888) by Walter Besant A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder (1888) by James De Mille Caesar's Column (1890) by Ignatius L. DonnellyPfaelzer, pp. 120–40. Pictures of the Socialistic Future (1891) by Eugen Richter "The Repairer of Reputations" (1895) by Robert W. Chambers The Time Machine (1895) by H. G. Wells When The Sleeper Wakes (1899) by H. G. Wells
20th century
1900s
The First Men in the Moon (1901) by H. G. Wells The Purple Cloud (1901) by M. P. Shiel The Iron Heel (1908) by Jack London Lord of the World (1908) by Robert Hugh Benson The Machine Stops (1909) by E. M. Forster The Lunar Trilogy (1911) by Jerzy Żuławski
1910s
The Night Land (1912) by William Hope Hodgson When William Came (1913) by Saki as a future history, this is among the earliest of Pax Germanica genre Meccania (1918) by "Owen Gregory"(pseudonym) The Heads of Cerberus (1919) by "Francis Stevens" (Gertrude Barrows Bennett)Mark Bould, Sherryl Vint, (2011) The Routledge Concise History of Science Fiction. Routledge, (p.23).
1920s
R.U.R.: Rossum's Universal Robots (1921) by Karel Čapek"Another classic dystopian work, Karel Čapek's R.U.R. (1921) was written at the same time as Zamyatin's work". The Cybernetic Imagination in Science Fiction. Patricia S. Warrick, MIT Press, 1980 , (p.48). We (1921) by Yevgeny Zamyatin Love in the Fog of the Future (1923 or 1924) by Andrei Marsov Miasto światłości (1924) by Mieczysław Smolarski The Trial (written in 1914 but first published in 1925) by Franz Kafka O Presidente Negro (1926) by Monteiro Lobato
1930s
The Foundation Pit (1930) by Andrei Platonov Brave New World (1932) by Aldous Huxley Cat Country (1932/1933) by Lao She It Can't Happen Here (1935) by Sinclair Lewis War with the Newts (1936) by Karel Čapek Swastika Night (1937) by Katharine Burdekin" a feminist novelist called Katherine Burdekin published under a male pseudonym, Murray Constantine, an anti-fascist dystopia with the title Swastika Night.."Alkeline van Lenning, Marrie Bekker, Ine Vanwesenbeeck, (p.88) Feminist Utopias in a Post Modern Era. Tilburg University Press, 1997. Anthem (1938) by Ayn Rand Invitation to a Beheading (1938) by Vladimir Nabokov
1940s
Darkness at Noon (1940) by Arthur Koestler "If This Goes On—" (1940) by Robert A. Heinlein Kallocain (1940) by Karin Boye The Moon Is Down (1942) by John Steinbeck That Hideous Strength (1945) by C. S. Lewis Peace In Our Time (1946) by Noël Coward Bend Sinister (1947) by Vladimir Nabokov Ape and Essence (1948) by Aldous Huxley Some Time Never: A Fable for Supermen (1948) by Roald Dahl The World of Null-A (1948) by A. E. van Vogt Heliopolis (1949) by Ernst Jünger Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949) by George Orwell
1950s
Player Piano (1952) by Kurt Vonnegut The Sound of His Horn (1952) by Sarban Fahrenheit 451 (1953) by Ray Bradbury Love Among the Ruins (1953) by Evelyn Waugh One (1953) by David Karp The Space Merchants (1953) by Frederik Pohl and C. M. Kornbluth"The Space Merchants describes an archetypal dystopia, an America choked by the waste products of consumerism..." George Mann, The Mammoth Encyclopedia of Science Fiction Constable & Robinson Ltd, 2012 (p. 1983). The Caves of Steel (1954) by Isaac Asimov Lord of the Flies (1954) by William Golding The Chrysalids (1955) by John Wyndham The City and the Stars (1956) by Arthur C. Clarke Minority Report (1956) by Philip K. Dick The World Jones Made (1956) by Philip K. Dick Atlas Shrugged (1957) by Ayn Rand The Naked Sun (1957) by Isaac Asimov The Rise of the Meritocracy (1958) by Michael Young, Baron Young of Dartington Alas, Babylon (1959) by Pat Frank A Canticle for Leibowitz (1959) by Walter M. Miller Jr. The John Franklin Letters (1959) by anonymous (probably Revilo P. Oliver)
1960s
Dr. Futurity (1960) by Philip K. Dick Facial Justice (1960) by L. P. HartleyKnud Sørensen (1971) "Language and Society in L. P. Hartley's 'Facial Justice,'" Orbis Litterarum 26 (1), 68–84. Vulcan's Hammer (1960) by Philip K. Dick "Harrison Bergeron" (1961) by Kurt VonnegutLopez, Edward J . (associate professor, San Jose State University) "Thoughts on "Harrison Bergeron"", April 16, 2007 Powrót z gwiazd (1961) by Stanisław Lem The Old Men at the Zoo (1961) by Angus WilsonThe best dystopias Michael Moorcock, The Guardian, January 22, 2009. Retrieved February 1, 2014. A Clockwork Orange (1962) by Anthony Burgess The Man in the High Castle (1962) by Philip K. Dick The Wanting Seed (1962) by Anthony Burgess The Game-Players of Titan (1963) by Philip K. Dick Planet of the Apes (1963) by Pierre Boulle Farnham's Freehold (1964) by Robert A. Heinlein Nova Express (1964) by William S. Burroughs The Penultimate Truth (1964) by Philip K. Dick The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch (1964) by Philip K. Dick "Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman (1965) by Harlan Ellison The Crack in Space (1966) by Philip K. Dick The Dream Master (1966) by Roger Zelazny Make Room! Make Room! (1966) by Harry Harrison Now Wait for Last Year (1966) by Philip K. Dick Snail on the Slope (1966) by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream" by Harlan Ellison (1967) (post-apocalyptic with elements of dystopia) Logan's Run (1967) by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson The Time Hoppers (1967) by Robert Silverberg The White Mountains (1967) by John Christopher Why Call Them Back from Heaven? (1967) by Clifford D. Simak A Very Private Life (1968) by Michael Frayn"Michael Frayn's comedy has more usually taken an anti-utopian turn. He has written one explicitly dystopian novel, A Very Private Life...", "Whitehall Farces" Patrick Parrinder, London Review of Books, October 8, 1992. Camp Concentration (1968) by Thomas M. Disch Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968) by Philip K. Dick Stand on Zanzibar (1968) by John Brunner Synthajoy (1968) by D. G. Compton The Jagged Orbit (1969) by John Brunner
1970s
This Perfect Day (1970) by Ira Levin The Guardians (1970) by John Christopher The Lorax (1971) by Dr. Seuss The Lathe of Heaven (1971) by Ursula K. Le Guin Los Angeles: AD 2017 (1971) by Phillip Wylie The World Inside (1971) by Robert Silverberg 334 (1972) by Thomas M. Disch The Sheep Look Up (1972) by John Brunner The Iron Dream (1972) by Norman Spinrad The Camp of the Saints (1973) by Jean Raspail The Ultimate Solution by Eric Norden (1973) Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said (1974) by Philip K. DickSurvey of Science Fiction Literature Walk to the End of the World (1974) by Suzy McKee Charnas Dhalgren (1975) by Samuel R. Delany The Forever War (1975) by Joe Haldeman The Girl Who Owned a City (1975) by O. T. Nelson High-Rise (1975) by J. G. Ballard The Shockwave Rider (1975) by John Brunner Don't Bite the Sun (1976) by Tanith Lee Woman on the Edge of Time (1976) by Marge Piercy The Dark Tower (1977) – unfinished, attributed to C. S. Lewis, published as The Dark Tower and Other Stories A Scanner Darkly (1977) by Philip K. Dick The Eye of the Heron (1978) by Ursula K. Le Guin SS-GB by Len Deighton (1978) The Stand (1978) by Stephen King 1985 (1978) by Anthony Burgess The Turner Diaries (1978) by Andrew Macdonald Alongside Night (1979) by J. Neil SchulmanKirkus Reviews, October 1, 1979. The Long Walk (1979) by Stephen King under the pseudonym Richard Bachman
1980s
Mockingbird (1980) by Walter Tevis Riddley Walker (1980) by Russell Hoban Lanark: A Life in Four Books (1981) by Alasdair Gray"The hero migrates from "real" Glasgow to Unthank, an underground dystopia". John Clute, Science Fiction: A Visual Encyclopedia. Dorling Kindersley, 1995 (p. 231). Limes inferior (1982) by Janusz Zajdel The Running Man (1982) by Stephen King under the pseudonym Richard Bachman HaDerekh LeEin Harod (1984) by Amos Kenan Paradyzja (1984) by Janusz Zajdel Sprawl trilogy: Neuromancer (1984) by William Gibson Count Zero (1986) by William Gibson Mona Lisa Overdrive (1988) by William GibsonKirkus Reviews, February 1, 1984.Kirkus Reviews, February 15, 1986 Dayworld (1985) by Philip José Farmer The Handmaid's Tale (1985) by Margaret Atwood In the Country of Last Things (1985) by Paul Auster Moscow 2042 (1986) by Vladimir Voinovich Sea of Glass (1986) by Barry B. Longyear Obernewtyn Chronicles (1987–2008) by Isobelle Carmody The Domination (1988) by S. M. StirlingCharacterized as such by author himself, see Chapter 1 The Proteus Operation (1985) by James P. Hogan The Divide (1980) by William Overgard To the Stars trilogy (1980) by Harry Harrison
1990s
Fiction Clash of Eagles (1990) by Leo Rutman The Dark Beyond the Stars (1991) by Frank M. Robinson Timewyrm: Exodus (1991) by Terrance Dicks Serpent's Walk (1991) by Randolph D. Calverhall The War in 2020 (1991) by Ralph Peters The Children of Men (1992) by P. D. James Fatherland by Robert Harris (1992)Kirkus Reviews, May 15, 1992. Snow Crash (1992) by Neal Stephenson Parable of the Sower (1993) by Octavia E. Butler Virtual Light (1993) by William Gibson Vurt (1993) by Jeff Noon Paris in the Twentieth Century (written in 1863 but first published in 1994) by Jules Verne The Memory Police (1994) by Yōko Ogawa The Diamond Age (1994) by Neal StephensonKirkus Reviews, December 15, 1994. Gun, with Occasional Music (1994) by Jonathan Lethem Amnesia Moon (1995) by Jonathan Lethem '48 (1996) by James Herbert Attentatet i Pålsjö skog (1996) by Hans Alfredson Infinite Jest (1996) by David Foster Wallace Battle Royale (1999) by Koushun Takami Forever Free (1999) by Joe Haldeman The Ice People (1999) by Maggie Gee
Young adult fiction
The Giver (1993) by Lois LowryNatalie Babbitt, "The Hidden Cost of Contentment", Washington Post May 9, 1993, p. X15. Shade's Children (1997) by Garth Nix Among the Hidden (Shadow Children #1) (1998) by Margaret Peterson Haddix
21st century 2000s
Fiction
Ella Minnow Pea (2001) by Mark Dunn Feed (2002) by M. T. Anderson In the Presence of Mine Enemies (2003) by Harry Turtledove Jennifer Government (2003) by Max Barry Oryx and Crake (2003) by Margaret Atwood Collaborator (2003) by Murray Davies Asphalt (2004) by Carl Hancock Rux Cloud Atlas (2004) by David MitchellKloszewski, M. (June 15, 2004). Library Journal, 129(11): 56. The Plot Against America (2004) by Philip Roth Divided Kingdom (2005) by Rupert ThomsonD. J. Taylor: "Anima Attraction", The Guardian (April 16, 2005). Never Let Me Go (2005) by Kazuo Ishiguro Armageddon's Children (2006) by Terry Brooks The Book of Dave (2006) by Will Self Day of the Oprichnik (2006) by Vladimir Sorokin Blind Faith (2007) by Ben Elton Rant (2007) by Chuck Palahniuk