James Kelman Books in Order
James Kelman has written 29 books, published between 1973 and 2024. The first book is An Old Pub Near the Angel (1973) and the newest is All We Have Is the Story (2024). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 29
- Published
- 1973–2024
- Pages on record
- 4,404 in 15 of 29 books
- Reading time
- 73–110 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 4,404 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 15 of 29 titles with a page count on record.
James Kelman is a Scottish novelist, short story writer, playwright and essayist, born in 1946. Kelman's fiction renders the inner mental life of mostly working-class narrators and their struggles with authority and social dealings, largely in Glasgow, and often works through stream of consciousness. A Disaffection was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and took the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction in 1989. The catalogue holds 29 titles published between 1973 and 2024, from An Old Pub Near the Angel (1973) to All We Have Is the Story (2024), and it carries plays and essays as well as novels and story collections. The 1990s are the busiest decade.
How many James Kelman books are there?
James Kelman has 29 books, released between 1973 and 2024.
James Kelman Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 29 James Kelman 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.
- 1An Old Pub Near the Angel1973 · confirmed 1/41973–1/4
- 219797911/4
- 3Not, Not While the Giro1983 · 206 pages · confirmed 1/419832061/4
- 4The Bus Conductor Hines1984 · 237 pages · confirmed 1/419842371/4
- 5A Chancer1985 · 408 pages · confirmed 1/419854081/4
- 6Greyhound for Breakfast1988 · 230 pages · confirmed 1/419882301/4
- 7A Disaffection1989 · 337 pages · confirmed 1/419893371/4
- 8The Burn1991 · 243 pages · confirmed 1/419912431/4
- 9Hardie and Baird & Other Plays1991 · 180 pages · confirmed 1/419911801/4
- 10Some Recent Attacks1992 · 91 pages · confirmed 1/41992911/4
- 11How Late It Was, How Late1994 · 373 pages · confirmed 1/419943731/4
- 12Essays and Stories1995 · confirmed 1/41995–1/4
- 13Seven Stories1997 · confirmed 1/41997–1/4
- 14The Good Times1998 · confirmed 1/41998–1/4
- 15Translated Accounts2001 · 340 pages · confirmed 1/420013401/4
- 16Selected Stories2001 · 144 pages · confirmed 1/420011441/4
- 17And the Judges Said...2002 · 486 pages · confirmed 1/420024861/4
- 18You Have to be Careful in the Land of the Free2004 · confirmed 1/42004–1/4
- 19Kieron Smith, Boy2008 · confirmed 1/42008–1/4
- 20If it is Your Life2010 · confirmed 1/42010–1/4
- 21Mo Said She Was Quirky2012 · confirmed 1/42012–1/4
- 22A Lean Third2015 · 114 pages · confirmed 1/420151141/4
- 23Dirt Road2016 · confirmed 1/42016–1/4
- 24That Was a Shiver2017 · confirmed 1/42017–1/4
- 25God's Teeth and Other Phenomena2020 · confirmed 1/42020–1/4
- 26The State Is Your Enemy2022 · confirmed 1/42022–1/4
- 27Keep Moving and No Questions2022 · 224 pages · confirmed 1/420222241/4
- 28The State is the Enemy2023 · confirmed 1/42023–1/4
- 29All We Have Is the Story2024 · confirmed 1/42024–1/4
James Kelman 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.
Scottish Short Stories
1 book1 title published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.
Standalone books
28 books28 James Kelman titles here are not listed as part of any series.
Do you have to read James Kelman books in order?
No. No source lists any of the 29 James Kelman books here as part of a series. The numbered table above gives them by publication date.
Where to start with James Kelman
Start with An Old Pub Near the Angel (1973), the earliest published title.
What is the newest James Kelman book?
All We Have Is the Story (2024) is the newest James Kelman book released so far.
Is there a new James Kelman book coming?
No next James Kelman book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
Awards James Kelman has won
Wikidata records 3 awards and 2 nominations for James Kelman. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.
- Saltire Awards2008Won
- Booker Prize1994Wonfor How Late It Was, How Late
- James Tait Black Memorial Prize1989Won
- Booker Prize2001Shortlistedfor Translated Accounts
- Booker Prize1989Shortlistedfor A Disaffection
James Kelman at a glance
- Still publishing
- James Kelman published a book as recently as 2024.
- Release pace
- James Kelman books have appeared about one every 2 years on average.
- Length
- 4,404 pages across the 15 of 29 books with a recorded length, a median of 237 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most James Kelman books, 7 of 29, were published in the 1990s.
What the James Kelman books are about
16 of the 29 James Kelman books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: scotland is tagged on 5 of 16. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Scotland 5 of 16 books
- English fiction 2 of 16 books