Order of Book Series
0

Tom Sharpe Books in Order

Tom Sharpe has written 17 books, published between 1971 and 2010. The first book is Riotous Assembly (1971) and the newest is The Wilt Inheritance (2010). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
17
Published
1971–2010
Pages on record
5,952 in 16 of 17 books
Reading time
99–149 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 5,952 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 16 of 17 titles with a page count on record.

See all 17 books in order Printable Tom Sharpe checklist

Tom Sharpe was an English satirical novelist who lived from 1928 to 2013. Riotous Assembly (1971) opens 17 catalogued books ending with The Wilt Inheritance (2010). The Wilt novels, Porterhouse Blue (1974) and Blott on the Landscape (1975) are the best known, and all three reached television. South Africa and England both appear among the settings, with college teachers, comedy and satire running through the subjects.

How many Tom Sharpe books are there?

Tom Sharpe has 17 books, released between 1971 and 2010. They include 3 series and 8 titles listed outside any series.

Tom Sharpe Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 17 Tom Sharpe 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 Riotous Assembly by Tom Sharpe, book 1 of the Piemburg series (1971)
  2. Cover of Blott On The Landscape by Tom Sharpe (1975)
  3. Cover of Wilt by Tom Sharpe, book 1 of the Wilt series (1976)
  4. Cover of The Great Pursuit by Tom Sharpe (1977)
  5. Cover of The Throwback by Tom Sharpe (1978)
  6. Cover of The Wilt Alternative by Tom Sharpe, book 2 of the Wilt series (1979)
  7. Cover of Ancestral Vices by Tom Sharpe (1980)
  8. Cover of Wilt On High by Tom Sharpe, book 3 of the Wilt series (1984)
  9. Cover of Selected Works by Tom Sharpe (1986)
  10. Cover of Grantchester Grind by Tom Sharpe, book 2 of the Porterhouse Blue series (1995)
  11. Cover of The Midden by Tom Sharpe (1996)
  12. Cover of Wilt In Nowhere by Tom Sharpe, book 4 of the Wilt series (2004)
  13. Cover of The Gropes by Tom Sharpe (2009)
  14. Cover of The Wilt Inheritance by Tom Sharpe, book 5 of the Wilt series (2010)
  1. 1
    Riotous AssemblyPiemburg #11971 · 320 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1971320
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    Indecent ExposurePiemburg #21973 · 352 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1973352
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    Porterhouse BluePorterhouse Blue #11974 · 336 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1974336
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    Blott On The Landscape1975 · 352 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1975352
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    WiltWilt #11976 · 336 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1976336
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    The Great Pursuit1977 · 320 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1977320
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    The Throwback1978 · 320 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1978320
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    The Wilt AlternativeWilt #21979 · 352 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1979352
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    Ancestral Vices1980 · 384 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1980384
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    Vintage Stuff1982 · 320 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1982320
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    Wilt On HighWilt #31984 · 352 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1984352
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    Selected Works1986 · 784 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1986784
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    Grantchester GrindPorterhouse Blue #21995 · 496 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1995496
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 14
    The Midden1996 · 352 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1996352
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  15. 15
    Wilt In NowhereWilt #42004 · 304 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2004304
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  16. 16
    The Gropes2009 · 272 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2009272
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  17. 17
    The Wilt InheritanceWilt #52010 · confirmed 1/4
    2010–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Tom Sharpe 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.

Wilt in order

5 books
  1. 1. Wilt
  2. 2. The Wilt Alternative
  3. 3. Wilt On High
  4. 4. Wilt In Nowhere
  5. 5. The Wilt Inheritance

Piemburg in order

2 books
  1. 1. Riotous Assembly
  2. 2. Indecent Exposure

Porterhouse Blue in order

2 books
  1. 1. Porterhouse Blue
  2. 2. Grantchester Grind

Standalone books

8 books

8 Tom Sharpe titles here are not listed as part of any series.

Tom Sharpe Books in Chronological Order

By publication date, the Tom Sharpe books run from Riotous Assembly (1971) to The Wilt Inheritance (2010), the sequence in the table above. No separate story order is recorded for Tom Sharpe in the book listings this catalogue merges, so publication order is the only order on record.

Do you have to read Tom Sharpe books in order?

You only need to read Tom Sharpe books in order within each series: the books listed here span 3 separate series, and each series has its own publication order.

Where to start with Tom Sharpe

Start with Riotous Assembly (1971), the earliest published title.

What is the newest Tom Sharpe book?

The Wilt Inheritance (2010) is the newest Tom Sharpe book released so far.

Is there a new Tom Sharpe book coming?

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

Tom Sharpe at a glance

Died
Tom Sharpe died in 2013, according to Wikidata.
Last book
The newest book credited to Tom Sharpe on record dates from 2010.
Release pace
Tom Sharpe books have appeared about one every 2 years on average.
Length
5,952 pages across the 16 of 17 books with a recorded length, a median of 344 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Tom Sharpe books, 8 of 17, were published in the 1970s.

What the Tom Sharpe books are about

15 of the 17 Tom Sharpe books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: humor is tagged on 9 of 15. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.