A Selection of the Best Campus Novels
Since Kingsley Amis and even well before that, the tradition of novels set on campuses or relating to the worlds of academia, education and college life have become a staple category for publishers in various places. We decided to select a few of our favourites for this edition of our picks.
Vladimir Nabokov - Pale Fire, 1962
Nabokov wrote a couple of novels that were set in the world of academia, and Pnin would be as worthy a choice for this list. But Pale Fire is one of his most important works, which he wrote after the success of Lolita. It is the story of a 999 line poem written by a fictional writer, and is accompanied by commentary on the poem from his academic colleague. It’s considered one of the defining works of metafiction, telling the story of two academic lives through its conceit.
David Lodge - Small World, 1984
David Lodge’s Campus Trilogy is hilarious, raucous and underappreciated. Small World is the second of the trilogy and follows two professors and their wives, as well as many adjacent characters, around the international circuit of academic literary conferences. It is highly, and self-reflexively linked to literary studies, romance and the collegiate world, likely informed by Lodge’s own experience as a professor.
Donna Tartt - The Secret History, 1992
A book that has become a modern classic, Donna Tartt’s debut novel is based loosely upon her own time at Bennington College. The book reminisces about liberal arts college life through its narrator, who becomes part of a selective group of Classics students led by a professor who has elements of cult leader to him. But to describe it like that would ignore the strange, hypnotic spell it casts and the more dramatic elements that must be discovered for yourself.
Javier Marias - All Souls, 1993
One of Spain’s greatest ever writers, Marias brings his signature philosophical and meandering style to the world of Oxford in All Souls, which is the story of an affair between a visiting Spanish lecturer and a married woman. But through this tale he also explores the world of reputations, academic propriety and the unique universe of Oxbridge. The story unfolds in his signature style and is well worth a read.
Elif Batuman - The Idiot, 2017
Another modern campus classic, The Idiot follows its autobiographical heroine Selin, who has arrived as an undergraduate at Harvard in the nineties and is worrying about how to live. How does she make friends? How does she fall in love? How does she come to understand the relationship between art and life, words and world? How has she come to discover email? These are just some of the questions the book explores in its funny, thoughtful style that is hard to put down.
Brandon Taylor - Real Life, 2020
Another debut novel that follows the partly autobiographical novel follows the experiences of a gay African American PhD student in a white midwestern college environment. Exploring prejudice, class and queerness as well as various other aspects of the modern American experience, it is set over a long summer weekend and is psychologically compelling, satirical and emotionally incisive.
R.F. Kuang - Babel, 2022
A historical fantasy epic that grapples with student revolutions, colonial resistance, and the use of language and translation as the dominating tool of the British Empire, R.F. Kuang’s Babel explore the world of Oxford and of campus life through a unique lens. It is not strictly a campus novel but explores similar themes and more in a strikingly original manner.