Ten of the best writers in novels

John Niven was born in Irvine, Ayrshire. He has written for The Times, Independent, Word and FHM among other publications. He is also the author of the novella Music from Big Pink, and the novels Kill Your Friends and Straight White Male.

One of his top ten writers in novels, as told to the Guardian:

TS Garp
The World According to Garp by John Irving

I was 17 and in my final year of school when I discovered this book, and it was, I think, the first literary novel I read of my own choosing. Garp is a novelist and I was entranced by his day at the typewriter, by his cooking – the scene where he roasts green peppers over the open flame of the stove – and by his housebound pottering. I loved the way he stockpiled telephone directories and used them to obtain names for his characters, a technique I purloined and still use today. As much as anything, Garp made me want to be a writer.

Read about another fictional novelist on the list.

Also see: John Mullan's ten best fictional poets.

--Marshal Zeringue