Evelyn Waugh was a prominent British novelist noted for sharp satire. His well-known works like Brideshead Revisited and A Handful of Dust explore upper-class society with wit and irony.
If you enjoy reading books by Evelyn Waugh then you might also like the following authors:
Kingsley Amis is known for his sharp wit and satirical view of British society. If you appreciate Evelyn Waugh's humor and critical observations of class and manners, you'll enjoy Amis's writing. His style is lively, often cynical, and always entertaining.
A good book of his to start with is Lucky Jim, which tells the comical misadventures of a young lecturer struggling with academic life and social expectations.
Anthony Powell shares Evelyn Waugh's interest in exploring upper-class British life with dry humor and subtle irony. Powell's style is elegant and insightful, capturing society's changing details across time.
His masterpiece, A Dance to the Music of Time, is a twelve-volume series that follows a group of friends navigating social and political shifts in twentieth-century Britain with humor and sharp social critique.
If you enjoyed the wit and comedic twists in Evelyn Waugh's novels, P.G. Wodehouse is a natural next pick. Wodehouse's fiction is playful, witty, and full of hilarious misunderstandings.
He created the beloved characters Jeeves and Wooster, who appear in many stories including the delightful Right Ho, Jeeves, a funny tale where Jeeves cleverly resolves the absurd problems of his hapless employer Bertie Wooster.
Muriel Spark writes novels marked by sharp wit, satirical commentary, and the dark humor that characterize Evelyn Waugh's works. Spark often explores moral dilemmas and the absurdities of human behavior.
Her book The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie focuses on an unconventional teacher whose influence over her students leads to surprising and morally ambiguous results.
Graham Greene shares with Evelyn Waugh an incisive view of human weakness, morality, and faith. His style is clear, insightful, and often morally complex, exploring characters caught in dilemmas.
In Greene's celebrated novel The Quiet American, readers encounter complex questions about political involvement, innocence, and personal morality in the midst of conflict in 1950s Vietnam.
Nancy Mitford's novels often mix sharp wit with insights into British high society, satirizing the habits and pretensions of the upper classes. Her writing is witty and full of humor, much like Evelyn Waugh's own style.
In The Pursuit of Love, Mitford explores love, friendships, and eccentric family life among the English aristocracy in the interwar years, making it a great pick for fans of Waugh.
Aldous Huxley is known for his sharp social commentary and sophisticated satire. His books frequently question societal norms and traditions in a witty, smart way. A classic example is his novel Brave New World, which cleverly critiques a superficial and controlled society.
Readers who appreciate Evelyn Waugh's satirical eye will find Huxley insightful and engaging.
George Orwell crafted clear, intelligent prose that probes society's hypocrisies and injustices. If you enjoy Waugh's critical observations of human folly and societal structures, Orwell's Keep the Aspidistra Flying could be a perfect fit.
This novel sharply captures issues of middle-class life, ambition, money, and frustration in 1930s England.
Christopher Isherwood wrote novels and stories known for their personal, intimate perspectives and precise portrayal of the lives he observed.
His novel Goodbye to Berlin captures vivid scenes from the waning years of Weimar Germany, observing society from a quiet, yet incisive point of view. Fans of Evelyn Waugh's understated wit and observational style will find a similar appeal in Isherwood.
Henry Green's style is distinct, subtle, and highly observant. His novels often shine a thoughtful but humorous spotlight on everyday life and social interaction among ordinary people.
A notable work, Loving, provides a close, compassionate, yet quietly funny look at servants and masters in an Irish country house during World War II.
Readers who like Evelyn Waugh's combination of humor, sharp observation, and character depth will find Green's novels especially rewarding.
If you enjoy Evelyn Waugh’s sharp humor and satirical touch, Ronald Firbank could be a great find. Firbank's novels are witty, stylish, and full of playful mockery aimed at fashionable society and upper-class pretensions.
He has a talent for creating eccentric characters and whimsical scenes. His novel Valmouth is a delightful example of his cleverness, focusing on the amusing antics of elderly characters in a seaside resort.
Barbara Pym writes novels filled with gentle wit and keen observations about everyday life and social interactions, especially within middle-class British communities.
Her writing shares Waugh's sense of dry humor and careful attention to details about manners and societal norms. Her novel Excellent Women reveals her skill at portraying ordinary yet insightful characters quietly negotiating life's small dramas and comedic situations.
Fans of Evelyn Waugh’s wit might also appreciate the humorous satire of Max Beerbohm. Beerbohm, known for his sharp yet affectionate satire of literary and social circles, wrote with elegance, humor, and a mischievous sense of irony.
His novel Zuleika Dobson is a humorous tale about the absurd romantic chaos that takes place at Oxford when a charismatic young woman causes turmoil among the students.
David Lodge shares Waugh's knack for satirical humor, especially when dealing with academic life and social mores. Clever, witty, and observant, his novels often examine morals, social behavior, and the absurdities of modern culture.
Lodge’s novel Changing Places is a great satirical comedy about two university professors who swap lives across the Atlantic, hilariously highlighting cultural clashes and academic rivalries.
Like Evelyn Waugh, Malcolm Bradbury uses humor and satire to explore life's absurdities, especially the eccentricities of academic and literary circles. Bradbury’s novels are funny and thoughtful, usually filled with clever observation and understated social commentary.
His novel The History Man offers sharp satire about campus politics and pretentious academics in the 1970s, gently mocking their ideological excesses and ambitions.