Now that the 2009 Orange Prize for Fiction is over all attention will turn to the 40th Man Booker Prize, although the longlist won't be announced until early August and the shortlist in September. Time, then, to have a look at all the books that have made the shortlist since the prize's inception in 1969.
I have bolded up those I have read; hyperlinks take you to my reviews published on this site.
A Bend in the River - V.S. Naipaul 1979
A Disaffection - James Kelman 1989
A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry 1996
A Five-Year Sentence - Bernice Rubens 1978
A Fraction of the Whole - Steve Toltz 2008
A Long Long Way - Sebastian Barry 2005
A Month in the Country - J.L. Carr 1980
According to Mark - Penelope Lively 1984
Alias Grace - Margaret Atwood 1996
Amongst Women - John McGahern 1990
Amsterdam - Ian McEwan 1998 Winner
An Artist of the Floating World - Kazuo Ishiguro 1986
An Awfully Big Adventure - Beryl Bainbridge 1990
An Ice-Cream War - William Boyd 1982
An Instant in the Wind - Andre Brink 1976
An Insular Possession - Timothy Mo 1986
Animal's People - Indra Sinha 2007
Anthills of the Savannah - Chinua Achebe 1987
Arthur & George - Julian Barnes 2005
Astonishing Splashes of Colour - Clare Morrall 2003
Atonement - Ian McEwan 2001
Beside the Ocean of Time - George Mackay Brown 1994
Bird of Night - Susan Hill 1972
Bitter Fruit - Achmat Dangor 2004
Black Dogs - Ian McEwan 1992
Breakfast on Pluto - Patrick McCabe 1998
Brick Lane - Monica Ali 2003
Briefing for a Descent into Hell - Doris Lessing 1971
Bruno's Dream - Iris Murdoch 1970
Carry Me Down - M.J. Hyland 2006
Cat's Eye - Margaret Atwood 1989
Chatterton - Peter Ackroyd 1987
Circles of Deceit - Nina Bawden 1987
Clear Light of Day - Anita Desai 1980
Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell 2004
Confederates - Thomas Keneally 1979
Constance or Solitary Practices - Lawrence Durrell1982
Crossing the River - Caryl Phillips 1993
Darkmans - Nicola Barker 2007
Daughters of the House - Michele Roberts 1992
Dirt Music - Tim Winton 2002
Disgrace - J.M. Coetzee 1999 Winner
Earthly Powers - Anthony Burgess 1980
Empire of the Sun - J.G. Ballard 1984
Ending Up - Kingsley Amis 1974
England England - Julian Barnes 1998
English Passengers - Matthew Kneale 2000
Europa - Tim Parks 1997
Eva Trout - Elizabeth Bowen 1970
Every Man for Himself - Beryl Bainbridge 1996
Family Matters - Rohinton Mistry 2002
Fasting, Feasting - Anita Desai 1999
Figures in a Landscape - Barry England 1969
Fingersmith - Sarah Waters 2002
Flaubert's Parrot - Julian Barnes 1984
Flying to Nowhere - John Fuller 1983
From Scenes Like These - G.M. Williams 1969
G - John Berger 1972 Winner
Gabriel's Lament - Paul Bailey 1986
God on the Rocks - Jane Gardam1978
Good Behaviour - Molly Keane 1981
Goshawk Squadron - Derek Robinson 1971
Gossip from the Forest - Thomas Keneally 1975
Grace Notes - Bernard MacLaverty 1997
Great Granny Webster - Caroline Blackwood 1977
Headlong - Michael Frayn 1999
Heat and Dust - Ruth Prawer Jhabvala 1975 Winner
Holiday - Stanley Middleton 1974 Winner
Hotel du Lac - Anita Brookner 1984 Winner
Hotel World - Ali Smith 2001
How Late It Was, How Late - James Kelman 1994 Winner
I'll Go to Bed at Noon - Gerard Woodward 2004
Illywhacker - Peter Carey 1985
Impossible Object - Nicholas Mosley 1969
In a Free State - V.S. Naipaul 1971 Winner
In Custody - Anita Desai 1984
In Every Face I Meet - Justin Cartwright 1995
In the Country of Men - Hisham Matar 2006
In Their Wisdom - C.P. Snow 1974
Jake's Thing - Kingsley Amis 1978
Jigsaw - an Unsentimental Education - Sybille Bedford 1989
John Brown's Body - A.L. Barker 1970
Joseph - Julian Rathbone 1979
King Fisher Lives - Julian Rathbone 1976
Knowledge of Angels - Jill Paton Walsh 1994
Last Letters from Hav - Jan Morris 1985
Last Orders - Graham Swift 1996 Winner
Lies of Silence - Brian Moore 1990
Life and Times of Michael K. - J.M. Coetzee 1983 Winner
Life of Pi - Yann Martel 2002 Winner
Loitering with Intent - Murial Spark 1981
Master Georgie - Beryl Bainbridge 1998
Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie 1981 Winner
Mister Pip - Lloyd Jones 2007
Moon Tiger - Penelope Lively 1987 Winner
Morality Play - Barry Unsworth 1995
Mother's Milk - Edward St Aubyn 2006
Mrs Eckdorf in O'Neill's Hotel - William Trevor 1970
Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont - Elizabeth Taylor 1971
Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro 2005
Nice Work - David Lodge 1988
No Country for Young Men - Julia O'Faolain 1980
Notes on a Scandal - Zoe Heller 2003
number9dream - David Mitchell 2001
Offshore - Penelope Fitzgerald 1979 Winner
On Beauty - Zadie Smith 2005
On Chesil Beach - Ian McEwan 2007
Oryx and Crake - Margaret Atwood 2003
Oscar and Lucinda - Peter Carey 1988 Winner
Our Fathers - Andrew O'Hagan 1999
Oxygen - Andrew Miller 2001
Paddy Clarke, Ha Ha Ha - Roddy Doyle 1993 Winner
Paradise - Abdulrazak Gumah 1994
Pascali's Island - Barry Unsworth 1980
Pasmore - David Storey 1972
Peter Smart's Confessions - Paul Bailey 1977
Possession - A.S. Byatt 1990 Winner
Praxis - Fay Weldon 1979
Quarantine - Jim Crace 1997
Quartet in Autumn - Barbara Pym 1977
Rates of Exchange - Malcolm Bradbury 1983
Reading in the Dark - Seamus Deane 1996
Reading Turgenev - William Trevor 1991
Reef - Romesh Gunesekera 1994
Remembering Babylon - David Malouf 1993
Restoration - Rose Tremain 1989
Rhine Journey - Ann Schlee 1981
Rising - R.C. Hutchison 1976
Rites of Passage - Wlliam Golding 1980 Winner
Rumours of Rain - Andre Brink 1978
Sacred Hunger - Barry Unsworth 1992 Winner
Saville - David Storey 1976 Winner
Scar Tissue - Michael Ignatieff 1993
Schindler's Ark - Thomas Keneally 1982 Winner
Sea of Poppies - Amitav Ghosh 2008
Serenity House - Christopher Hope 1992
Shadows on Our Skin - Jennifer Johnston 1977
Shame - Salman Rushdie 1983
Silence Amongst the Weapons - John Arden 1982
Small World - David Lodge 1984
Solomon Gursky Was Here - Mordecai Richler 1990
Something to Answer For - P.H. Newby 1969 Winner
Sour Sweet - Timothy Mo 1982
St. Urbain's Horseman - Mordecai Richler 1971
Staying On - Paul Scott 1977 Winner
Such a Long Journey - Rohinton Mistry 1991
The 27th Kingdom - Alice Thomas Ellis 1982
The Accidental - Ali Smith 2005
The Battle of Pollocks Crossing - J.L. Carr 1985
The Beggar Maid - Alice Munro 1980
The Beginning of Spring - Penelope Fitzgerald 1988
The Big Chapel - Thomas Kilroy 1971
The Black Prince - Iris Murdoch 1973
The Blackwater Lightship - Colm Tóibín 1999
The Blind Assassin - Margaret Atwood 2000 Winner
The Bone People - Keri Hulme 1985 Winner
The Book and the Brotherhood - Iris Murdoch 1987
The Book of Evidence - John Banville 1989
The Bookshop - Penelope Fitzgerald 1978
The Bottle Factory Outing - Beryl Bainbridge 1974
The Butcher Boy - Patrick McCabe 1992
The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith - Thomas Keneally 1972
The Children of Dynmouth - William Trevor 1976
The Clothes on Their Backs - Linda Grant 2008
The Colour of Blood - Brian Moore 1987
The Comfort of Strangers - Ian McEwan 1981
The Conjunction - T. W. Wheeler 1970
The Conservationist - Nadine Gordimer 1974 Winner
The Dark Room - Rachel Seiffert 2001
The Deposition of Father McGreevy - Brian O'Doherty 2000
The Doctor's Wife - Brian Moore 1976
The Dressmaker - Beryl Bainbridge 1973
The Elected Member - Bernice Rubens 1970 Winner
The Electric Michelangelo - Sarah Hall 2004
The English Patient - Michael Ondaatje 1992 Winner
The Essence of the Thing - Madeleine St John 1997
The Famished Road - Ben Okri 1991 Winner
The Folding Star - Alan Hollinghurst 1994
The Gate of Angels - Penelope Fitzgerald 1990
The Gathering - Anne Enright 2007 Winner
The Ghost Road - Pat Barker 1995 Winner
The God of Small Things - Arundhati Roy 1997 Winner
The Good Apprentice - Iris Murdoch 1985
The Good Doctor - Damon Galgut 2003
The Good Terrorist - Doris Lessing 1985
The Green Equinox - Elizabeth Mavor 1973
The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood 1986
The Hiding Place - Trezza Azzopardi 2000
The Illusionist - Anita Mason 1983
The Inheritance of Loss - Kiran Desai 2006 Winner
The Keepers of Truth - Michael Collins 2000
The Line of Beauty - Alan Hollinghurst 2004 winner
The Lost Father - Marina Warner 1988
The Map of Love - Adhaf Soueif 1999
The Master - Colm Tóibín 2004
The Moor's Last Sigh - Salman Rushdie 1995
The Nice and the Good - Iris Murdoch 1969
The Night Watch - Sarah Waters 2006
The Northern Clemency - Philip Hensher 2008
The Old Devils - Kingsley Amis 1986 Winner
The Orchard on Fire - Shena Mckay 1996
The Public Image - Muriel Spark 1969
The Redundancy of Courage - Timothy Mo 1991
The Reluctant Fundamentalist - Moshin Hamid 2007
The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro 1989 Winner
The Restraint of Beasts - Magnus Mills 1998
The Riders - Tim Winton 1995
The Road to Lichfield - Penelope Lively 1977
The Satanic Verses - Salman Rushdie 1988
The Sea - John Banville 2005 Winner
The Sea, The Sea - Iris Murdoch 1978 Winner
The Secret Scripture - Sebastian Barry 2008
The Secret River - Kate Grenville 2006
The Siege of Krishnapur - J.G. Farrell 1973 Winner
The Sirian Experiments - Doris Lessing 1981
The Stone Diaries - Carol Shields 1993
The Story of Lucy Gault - William Trevor 2002
The Underground Man - Mick Jackson 1997
The Van - Robby Doyle 1991
The White Hotel - D.M. Thomas 1981
The White Tiger - Aravind Adiga 2008 Winner
Time's Arrow - Martin Amis 1991
True History of the Kelly Gang - Peter Carey 2001 Winner
Under the Frog - Tibor Fischer 1993
Unless - Carol Shields 2002
Utz - Bruce Chatwin 1988
Vernon God Little - DBC Pierre 2003 Winner
Waterland - Graham Swift 1983
What's Bred in the Bone - Robertson Davies 1986
When We Were Orphans - Kazuo Ishiguro 2000
Given there were many years, indeed whole decades, where I ignored this prize, I was suprised to find I'd read 40 off this list. I have at least a dozen others in my reading queue.
So, how many have you read? (Feel free to distribute this as a meme if you like and leave a comment with a link so I can check out your results.)
