30 Great Novels of the 1980’s
- 1980 – The Covenant by James Michener
- 1980 – Earthly Powers by Anthony Burgess
- 1980 – The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
- 1980 – The Transit of Venus by Shirley Hazzard
- 1981 – Gorky Park by Martin Cruz Smith
- 1981 – Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie
- 1981 – Noble House by James Clavell
- 1982 – At Freddie’s by Penelope Fitzgerald
- 1982 – The Color Purple by Alice Walker
- 1982 – The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende
- 1983 – Ironweed by William Kennedy
- 1983 – Pet Sematary by Stephen King
- 1984 – Bright Lights, Big City by Jay McInerney
- 1984 – Money by Martin Amis
- 1985 – Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
- 1985 – The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
- 1985 – The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice
- 1986 – It by Stephen King
- 1986 – The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy
- 1987 – Beloved by Toni Morrison
- 1987 – The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe
- 1987 – Misery by Stephen King
- 1987 – Presumed Innocent by Scott Turow
- 1988 – Central Heat by David Dvorkin
- 1988 – Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
- 1988 – The Queen of the Damned by Anne Rice
- 1988 – The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris
- 1989 – Clear and Present Danger by Tom Clancy
- 1989 – The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
- 1989 – Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
* As is the case with any “list,” there is no definitive list of novels or films that is above discussion, disagreement, or alternate viewpoints. This list was formulated from cumulative research and is presented in good faith as a guide to the 30 best novels of the 1980’s.