Book cover of The Rachel Papers

Book description

In his uproarious first novel Martin Amis, author of the bestselling London Fields, gave us one of the most noxiously believable -- and curiously touching -- adolescents ever to sniffle and lust his way through the pages of contemporary fiction. On the brink of twenty, Charles High-way preps desultorily for…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked The Rachel Papers as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Martin Amis’s first novel, published in 1973, was the first book that I read from cover to cover. 

I was only eighteen at the time and even though my memory of the story is vague, I remember being drawn in by the unique and compelling way it was told.

I went on to read other works by the same author, but The Rachel Papers has a particular poignancy, in that it has lingered in my psyche for over forty years. Even in adolescence, I came to realise that books are as individual as the person reading them.  

If you love The Rachel Papers...

Book cover of Hemingway's Goblet

Hemingway's Goblet by Dermot Ross,

Hemingway's Goblet is a rollicking read about a mismatched relationship between a middle-aged commitment-phobic university professor in London and one of his female students, a Korean 15 years younger than him. He is accused of sexually harassing her, but somehow their relationship survives as they join forces to seek to…

Want books like The Rachel Papers?

Our community of 13,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like The Rachel Papers.

Browse books like The Rachel Papers

Book cover of Puffball
Book cover of Anatomy of Errors: A Self Help Course in Problem Solving
Book cover of The Cry of the Lake

Share your top 3 reads of 2025!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,395

readers submitted
so far, will you?