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Books by Ian McEwan
Ian McEwan is a widely acclaimed British novelist. His first collection of short stories, First Love, Last Rites, came out in 1976. His novels have won multiple awards, including the Booker Prize in 1998 for Amsterdam. His books have been adapted for film several times – including for Atonement in 2007, and On Chesil Beach and The Children Act in 2018. His most recent books are Machines Like Me, recommended by mathematician Kit Yates as a great way for learning about AI and its ethical implications, and the Cockroach, a novella about Brexit.
Machines Like Me: A Novel
by Ian McEwan
Ian McEwan is one of Britain's best known and most venerated novelists alive today, and his much-anticipated seventeenth book Machines Like Me takes the form a counterfactual novel, set in an alternative 1983, in which the (still living) mathematician Alan Turing has led major breakthroughs in the field of artificial intelligence. When 25 androids – 12 'male' Adams, and 13 'female' Eves – are released to the public, one owner finds himself in a complex love triangle with his girlfriend and android Adam.
McEwan has previously spoken to Five Books about the books that have shaped his novels.
The Cockroach
by Ian McEwan
The Cockroach by distinguished author (and Five Books interviewee) Ian McEwan is a political satire about Brexit, the shorthand used for the decision of the United Kingdom to exit the European Union following a referendum in June, 2016. Critical response to The Cockroach in the UK has been predictable: those who support Brexit hate it and those who oppose Brexit love it.
The audiobook, read by the British comic actor Bill Nighy in his customary lugubrious tone, is very, very funny.
The Children Act
by Ian McEwan
What's interesting about The Children Act is that McEwan poses two different ways of making meaning. One is the religious way, and the other is the anti-heroine's way.
On Chesil Beach
by Ian McEwan
This short novel is set in July 1962, when Edward Mayhew and Florence Ponting are just married. It’s about the first night of their marriage
“I thought it was very funny. It was an interesting take on the perceptions of some of the big issues between society and scientists, and the fact that we as a society don’t really understand what scientists are doing. Scientists are these objects that go around winning Nobel prizes, but actually not many of us really appreciate that they are human beings as well. “ Read more...
The best books on Renewable Energy
Juliet Davenport, Environmentalist
“McEwan spent many months shadowing neurosurgeons at the National Hospital of Neurology and Neurosurgery in Queen Square.” Read more...
The best books on The Mind and The Brain
Sarah-Jayne Blakemore, Medical Scientist
Interviews with Ian McEwan
Ian McEwan on the Books That Shaped His Novels
Novelist Ian McEwan talks about five of the books that have helped shape his own, from the biography of a scientific genius to a treatise on the end of time, and discusses the importance of finding “mental freedom”
Interviews where books by Ian McEwan were recommended
The best books on The Mind and The Brain, recommended by Sarah-Jayne Blakemore
Sarah-Jayne Blakemore, Research Fellow at the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience at UCL, discusses aspects of the relationship between the mind and the brain. She recommends books on autism, the allure of neuroscience, consciousness and maths
The best books on Renewable Energy, recommended by Juliet Davenport
The chief executive of Good Energy says we need to think big if we want to cut our use of high-carbon energy. She tells us about the intersection between business, politics and doing the right thing
The best books on Love and Relationships, recommended by Ella Berthoud
Bibliotherapist Ella Berthoud prescribes some reading for love. Rekindle your relationship, remember first passions and beware obsessive love with help from these suggestions.
The best books on Family Stories, recommended by Mona Simpson
Family dynamics are changing dramatically in our modern, workaholic age. The novelist – and sister of Steve Jobs, separated at birth – selects five works of fiction that illustrate some truths about families in all their variety
The best books on Justice and the Law, recommended by The Secret Barrister
The English legal system is struggling to ensure justice. Drastic government cuts and disastrous reforms have led to innocent people being let down by the system again and again. Reporting anonymously from the front line, The Secret Barrister sees it as their duty to keep the public informed. Here they discuss the books that have shaped the way they think about justice and its relation to the law.
The best books on The Role of Religion, recommended by Selina O'Grady
Religion has an ability to create groups and communities that has yet to be surpassed, argues Selina O’Grady, author of And Man Created God: A History of the World at the Time of Jesus.
