Order of Book Series
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Bret Easton Ellis Books in Order

Bret Easton Ellis has written 12 books, published between 1985 and 2023. The first book is Less Than Zero (1985) and the newest is The Shards (2023). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
12
Published
1985–2023
Pages on record
2,518 in 10 of 12 books
Reading time
42–63 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 2,518 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 10 of 12 titles with a page count on record.

See all 12 books in order Printable Bret Easton Ellis checklist
Photo of Bret Easton Ellis, author of the Clay series

Bret Easton Ellis is an American novelist and screenwriter whose fiction satirises affluent young Americans in a deliberately flat, affectless voice. Ellis published Less Than Zero at 21, in 1985, then The Rules of Attraction (1987) and American Psycho (1991), the novel that drew the widest readership and the loudest condemnation for its violence and misogyny. Ellis reuses characters across books, and the Clay series collects that strand. Generation X, drug addiction and college life run through the subject matter. Twelve books are catalogued, ending with The Shards (2023).

How many Bret Easton Ellis books are there?

Bret Easton Ellis has 12 books, released between 1985 and 2023. 2 of them belong to the Clay series.

Bret Easton Ellis Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 12 Bret Easton Ellis books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.

  1. Cover of Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis, book 1 of the Clay series (1985)
  2. Cover of The Rules of Attraction by Bret Easton Ellis (1987)
  3. Cover of American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis (1991)
  4. Cover of The Informers by Bret Easton Ellis (1994)
  5. Cover of Glamorama by Bret Easton Ellis (1998)
  6. Cover of Lunar Park by Bret Easton Ellis (2005)
  7. Cover of Water from the Sun and Discovering Japan by Bret Easton Ellis (2006)
  8. Cover of Imperial Bedrooms by Bret Easton Ellis, book 2 of the Clay series (2010)
  9. Cover of White by Bret Easton Ellis (2019)
  10. Cover of The Shards by Bret Easton Ellis (2023)
  1. 1
    Less Than ZeroClay #11985 · 208 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1985208
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    The Rules of Attraction1987 · 283 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1987283
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    American Psycho1991 · 399 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1991399
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    The Informers1994 · 225 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1994225
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    Glamorama1998 · 560 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1998560
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    Lunar Park2005 · 399 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2005399
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    Water from the Sun and Discovering Japan2006 · 62 pages · confirmed 2/4
    200662
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    Imperial BedroomsClay #22010 · confirmed 2/4
    2010–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    Different Types of Home Based Work2014 · 38 pages · confirmed 2/4
    201438
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    Body Fitness2014 · 72 pages · confirmed 2/4
    201472
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    White2019 · 272 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2019272
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    The Shards2023 · confirmed 2/4
    2023–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Bret Easton Ellis books grouped by series

Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. None of these groups has a reading-order page of its own on this site.

Clay in order

2 books
  1. 1. Less Than Zero
  2. 2. Imperial Bedrooms

Standalone books

10 books

10 Bret Easton Ellis titles here are not listed as part of any series.

Do you have to read Bret Easton Ellis books in order?

You only need to read Bret Easton Ellis books in order within the Clay series, which holds 2 of the 12 Bret Easton Ellis books listed here. The numbered table above gives every book in publication order.

Where to start with Bret Easton Ellis

Start with Less Than Zero (1985), the earliest published title.

What is the newest Bret Easton Ellis book?

The Shards (2023) is the newest Bret Easton Ellis book released so far.

Is there a new Bret Easton Ellis book coming?

No next Bret Easton Ellis book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.

Award nominations for Bret Easton Ellis

Wikidata records 1 nomination for Bret Easton Ellis. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.

  • World Fantasy Award for Best Novel2006Shortlistedfor Lunar Park

Bret Easton Ellis at a glance

Paused
No new Bret Easton Ellis title has appeared for 3 years. The last was published in 2023.
Release pace
Bret Easton Ellis books have appeared about one every 4 years on average.
Length
2,518 pages across the 10 of 12 books with a recorded length, a median of 248 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Bret Easton Ellis books, 4 of 12, were published in the 2010s.

What the Bret Easton Ellis books are about

9 of the 12 Bret Easton Ellis books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: friendship is tagged on 2 of 9. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.