Where to start with Iris Murdoch

British and Irish novelist, 1919–1999. Won the Costa Novel Award in 1974 and the Booker Prize in 1978.

Best Iris Murdoch book to start with: The Sea, the Sea (1978), on 3 of the 19 lists it could have made.

Her first novel, Under the Net, is the best way in. It is short, funny and set in London, and it is the quickest way to find out whether her mixture of comedy and philosophy suits you. The lists rank The Sea, the Sea first, which is a good book, but it is much longer.

The Sea, the Sea won the Booker Prize in 1978. A retired theatre director settles in a house by the sea and becomes obsessed with the past, and the narration slides between charm and menace. It is the second book to read. The Black Prince, shortlisted in 1973, is another about an obsessed narrator, this time a writer, and it makes a good third.

The Sacred and Profane Love Machine won the Costa Novel Award in 1974. Bruno’s Dream, The Nice and the Good, The Book and the Brotherhood and The Good Apprentice were shortlisted for the Booker in 1970, 1969, 1987 and 1985. They are fuller, more crowded novels with large casts, so pick one once you have enjoyed two of the others.