Catch-22
American novelist, 1923–1999.
Catch-22 is a 1961 novel by Joseph Heller. It was shortlisted for the National Book Award for Fiction in 1962.
In war novels
On 11 of the 17 lists it was eligible for.
The Novel Index earns a small commission if you buy through our links, at no extra cost to you. It never affects our rankings. More about how we earn.
At a glance
- Author
- Joseph Heller
- First published
- 1961
- Length
- 544 pages (UK paperback)
- Awards
- National Book Award for Fiction shortlist, 1962
- Genre
- War novels, Satire, Postmodern, Political
Is Catch-22 worth reading?
11 of the 17 best-of lists it could have made include it, among them 100 Best Novels (board's list) (Modern Library) and Readers' top 100 novels (The Guardian).
| List | Place | Original |
|---|---|---|
| 100 Best Novels (board's list) (Modern Library, 1998) | No. 7 | See the list |
| 100 Books to Read in a Lifetime (Amazon.co.uk, 2014) | Listed | See the list |
| 100 novels everyone should read (The Telegraph, 2009) | No. 77 | See the list |
| All-Time 100 Novels (Time, 2005) | Listed | See the list |
| National Book Award for Fiction (winners and finalists) (National Book Foundation, 1962) | Shortlist | See the list |
| Readers' top 100 novels (The Guardian, 2026) | No. 8 | See the list |
| The 100 best novels of all time (The Guardian, 2026) | No. 99 | See the list |
| The 100 best novels written in English (The Guardian / Observer, 2015) | Listed | See the list |
| The 100 greatest novels of all time (The Observer, 2003) | Listed | See the list |
| The Big Read top 100 (BBC, 2003) | No. 11 | See the list |
| The Great American Read (PBS, 2018) | Listed | See the list |
Best edition of Catch-22
The edition we link to is the Vintage Classics paperback (2011), 544 pages.
- Publisher
- Vintage Classics (paperback, 2011)
- Pages
- 544
- ISBN
- 9780099529125
How critics, prizes and readers rate Catch-22
Readers rate it most highly: it earned 72% of the points available on readers' and booksellers' lists, against 57% on critics' lists and 33% on prize lists.
Share of the available points it earned on each kind of list it was eligible for. How the scores work
Books like Catch-22
If you liked Catch-22, try The Grapes of Wrath, Wolf Hall or Midnight's Children.
