The best fiction audiobooks, by award record: every Audie Fiction winner
Looking for a fiction audiobook that's actually worth a credit? This is the complete record of the Audie Award's Fiction category — 32 winners from 1996 to 2026, the audiobook industry's own pick for the best fiction production of each year. The most recent winner is Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid, narrated by Kristen DiMercurio, Julia Whelan, Taylor Jenkins Reid.
| Year | Narrator | Audiobook | Author |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Kristen DiMercurio, Julia Whelan, Taylor Jenkins Reid | Atmosphere | Taylor Jenkins Reid |
| 2025 | Ramiz Monsef | Rednecks | Taylor Brown |
| 2024 | Meryl Streep | Tom Lake | Ann Patchett |
| 2023 | Carrie Coon, Key Taw, Jodi Picoult, Jennifer Finney Boylan | Mad Honey | Jodi Picoult; Jennifer Finney Boylan |
| 2022 | Multiple narrators | The Final Revival of Opal & Nev | Dawnie Walton |
| 2021 | Nicole Lewis | Such a Fun Age | Kiley Reid |
| 2020 | Blair Brown | City of Girls | Elizabeth Gilbert |
| 2019 | Richard Armitage | The Tattooist of Auschwitz | Heather Morris |
| 2018 | Cathleen McCarron | Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine | Gail Honeyman |
| 2017 | Bahni Turpin | Sister of Mine | Sabra Waldfogel |
| 2016 | Polly Stone | The Nightingale | Kristin Hannah |
| 2015 | Zach Appelman | All the Light We Cannot See | Anthony Doerr |
| 2014 | Will Patton | Doctor Sleep | Stephen King |
| 2013 | Claire Danes | The Handmaid's Tale | Margaret Atwood |
| 2012 | Will Patton | Alas, Babylon | Pat Frank |
| 2011 | Emma Galvin | Winter's Bone | Daniel Woodrell |
| 2010 | Cassandra Campbell, Jenna Lamia, Octavia Spencer, Bahni Turpin | The Help | Kathryn Stockett |
| 2009 | John Slattery | Duma Key | Stephen King |
| 2009 | Paul Boehmer, Susan Duerdan, full cast | The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society | Mary Ann Shaffer |
| 2008 | Lorelei King | Tallgrass | Sandra Dallas |
| 2007 | Carol Monda | Rise and Shine | Anna Quindlen |
| 2006 | Simon Jones | A Slight Trick of the Mind | Mitch Cullin |
| 2005 | Mary Beth Hurt | The Darling | Russell Banks |
| 2004 | Anna Fields | All Over Creation | Ruth Ozeki |
| 2003 | Kristoffer Tabori | Middlesex | Jeffrey Eugenides |
| 2002 | Frank Muller | The Talisman | Stephen King; Peter Straub |
| 2001 | Keith Szarabajka | Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates | Tom Robbins |
| 2000 | George Guidall | I Know This Much Is True | Wally Lamb |
| 1999 | George Guidall | A Widow for One Year | John Irving |
| 1998 | Terence Donovan | The Breaker | Kit Denton |
| 1997 | Frank Muller | The Green Mile | Stephen King |
| 1996 | Richard Thomas | The Homecoming | Earl Hamner, Jr. |
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Most-awarded fiction narrators
Bahni Turpin (2 wins) · Will Patton (2 wins) · Frank Muller (2 wins) · George Guidall (2 wins).
Most-awarded fiction authors
Stephen King (3 wins).
Every Audie Fiction finalist (the full nominee record)
The Audie Fiction category names finalists alongside each winner. These 114 audiobooks were nominated but didn't win — also sourced; each title's full record is in the A–Z index.
| Year | Finalist | Author | Narrator(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Broken Country | Clare Leslie Hall | Hattie Morahan |
| 2026 | Junie | Erin Crosby Eckstine | Angel Pean |
| 2026 | The Correspondent | Virginia Evans | Multiple narrators |
| 2026 | The Favorites | Layne Fargo | Multiple narrators |
| 2025 | Hamlet's Children | Richard Kluger | Paul Woodson |
| 2025 | The Evolution of Annabel Craig | Lisa Grunwald | Erin Bennett |
| 2025 | The Ministry of Time: A Novel | Kaliane Bradley | George Weightman, Katie Leung |
| 2025 | The Women | Kristin Hannah | Julia Whelan |
| 2024 | Birnam Wood | Eleanor Catton | Saskia Maarleveld |
| 2024 | Maame | Jessica George | Heather Agyepong |
| 2024 | One Blood | Denene Millner | Multiple narrators |
| 2024 | Yellowface | R. F. Kuang | Helen Laser |
| 2023 | A House Full of Windsor | Kristin Contino | Barrie Kreinik |
| 2023 | Across a Hundred Mountains | Reyna Grande | Multiple narrators |
| 2023 | Less is Lost | Andrew Sean Greer | Robert Petkoff |
| 2023 | The Bright Side of Running Club | Josie Lloyd | Danielle Cohen |
| 2023 | Tracy Flick Can't Win | Tom Perrotta | Multiple narrators |
| 2022 | All the Lonely People | Mike Gayle | Ben Onwukwe |
| 2022 | The Four Winds | Kristin Hannah | Julia Whelan |
| 2022 | The Lincoln Highway | Amor Towles | Multiple narrators |
| 2022 | The Nature of Fragile Things | Susan Meissner | Multiple narrators |
| 2021 | Big Lies in a Small Town | Diane Chamberlain | Susan Bennett |
| 2021 | Sex and Vanity | Kevin Kwan | Lydia Look |
| 2021 | The Last Story of Mina Lee | Nancy Jooyoun Kim | Greta Jung |
| 2021 | The Midnight Library | Matt Haig | Carey Mulligan |
| 2020 | Cilka's Journey | Heather Morris | Louise Brealey |
| 2020 | Colombiano | Rusty Young | Rusty Young, Brian J. Ramos |
| 2020 | The Age of Light | Whitney Scharer | Thérèse Plummer |
| 2020 | The House We Grew Up In | Lisa Jewell | Karina Fernandez |
| 2019 | An Absolutely Remarkable Thing | Hank Green | Kristen Sieh, Hank Green |
| 2019 | Life of Pi | Yann Martel | Vikas Adam |
| 2019 | Sanctuary | Judy Nunn | John Derum |
| 2019 | The Clockmaker's Daughter | Kate Morton | Joanne Froggatt |
| 2019 | The Great Alone | Kristin Hannah | Julia Whelan |
| 2018 | An Almond for a Parrot | Wray Delaney | Rachel Atkins |
| 2018 | Beartown | Fredrik Backman (trans. Neil Smith) | Marin Ireland |
| 2018 | I Liked My Life | Abby Fabiaschi | Multiple narrators |
| 2018 | The Life and Times of Persimmon Wilson | Nancy Peacock | JD Jackson |
| 2018 | The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane | Lisa See | Multiple narrators |
| 2017 | America's First Daughter | Stephanie Dray, Laura Kamoie | Cassandra Campbell |
| 2017 | Belgravia | Julian Fellowes | Juliet Stevenson |
| 2017 | Darktown | Thomas Mullen | Andre Holland |
| 2017 | End of Watch | Stephen King | Will Patton |
| 2016 | A God in Ruins | Kate Atkinson | Alex Jennings |
| 2016 | Citizens Creek | Lalita Tademy | Bahni Turpin, J. D. Jackson |
| 2016 | Kitchens of the Great Midwest | J. Ryan Stradal | Amy Ryan, Michael Stuhlbarg |
| 2016 | The Last Bus to Wisdom | Ivan Doig | David Baker |
| 2016 | The Sellout | Paul Beatty | Prentice Onayemi |
| 2015 | Five and Twenty-Fives | Michael Pitre | Multiple narrators |
| 2015 | Mr. Mercedes | Stephen King | Will Patton |
| 2015 | The Invention of Wings | Sue Monk Kidd | Multiple narrators |
| 2015 | Us | David Nicholls | David Haig |
| 2015 | Written in My Own Heart's Blood | Diana Gabaldon | Davina Porter |
| 2014 | Jacob's Oath | Martin Fletcher | George Guidall |
| 2014 | The Golem and the Jinni | Helene Wecker | George Guidall |
| 2014 | The Good House | Ann Leary | Mary Beth Hurt |
| 2014 | The Imposter Bride | Nancy Richler | Tavia Gilbert |
| 2014 | The Ocean at the End of the Lane | Neil Gaiman | Neil Gaiman |
| 2013 | A Rage in Harlem | Chester Himes | Samuel L. Jackson |
| 2013 | Beautiful Ruins | Jess Walter | Edoardo Ballerini |
| 2013 | Speaks the Nightbird | Robert R. McCammon | Edoardo Ballerini |
| 2013 | The Bartender's Tale | Ivan Doig | David Aaron Baker |
| 2012 | American Gods | Neil Gaiman | Dennis Boutsikaris, full cast |
| 2012 | Heat Rises | Richard Castle | Johnny Heller |
| 2012 | Portrait of a Spy | Daniel Silva | Simon Vance |
| 2012 | The Winds of War | Herman Wouk | Kevin Pariseau |
| 2011 | Every Last One | Anna Quindlen | Hope Davis |
| 2011 | Fall of Giants | Ken Follett | John Lee |
| 2011 | Pride and Prejudice and Zombies | Seth Grahame-Smith | Katherine Kellgren |
| 2011 | The Lonely Polygamist | Brady Udall | David Aaron Baker |
| 2011 | The Postmistress | Sarah Blake | Orlagh Cassidy |
| 2010 | Face of Betrayal | Lis Wiehl, April Henry | Pam Turlow |
| 2010 | Slumdog Millionaire | Vikas Swarup | Christopher Simpson |
| 2010 | The Bonfire of the Vanities | Tom Wolfe | Joe Barrett |
| 2010 | The Pigman | Paul Zindel | Eden Riegel, Charlie McWade |
| 2008 | Exile | Richard North Patterson | Dennis Boutsikaris |
| 2008 | The Friday Night Knitting Club | Kate Jacobs | Carrington MacDuffie |
| 2008 | The Tenderness of Wolves | Stef Penney | Sally Armstrong, Adam Sims |
| 2008 | The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox | Maggie O'Farrell | Anne Flosnick |
| 2007 | Restless | William Boyd | Rosamund Pike |
| 2007 | Telegraph Days | Larry McMurtry | Annie Potts |
| 2007 | The Prestige | Christopher Priest | Simon Vance |
| 2007 | The Two-Minute Rule | Robert Crais | Christopher Graybill |
| 2007 | Water for Elephants | Sara Gruen | David LeDoux, John Randolph-Jones |
| 2006 | Road to Purgatory | Max Allan Collins | Stanley Tucci |
| 2006 | Survivor in Death | J. D. Robb | Susan Ericksen |
| 2006 | The Last Kingdom | Bernard Cornwell | Jamie Glover |
| 2006 | The Motive | John Lescroart | David Colacci |
| 2005 | Going Postal | Terry Pratchett | Stephen Briggs |
| 2005 | I Am Charlotte Simmons | Tom Wolfe | Dylan Baker |
| 2005 | Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell | Susanna Clarke | Simon Prebble |
| 2005 | Our Sunshine | Robert Drewe | Michael Veitch |
| 2004 | Monstrous Regiment | Terry Pratchett | Stephen Briggs |
| 2004 | The Five People You Meet in Heaven | Mitch Albom | Erik Singer |
| 2004 | The Last Detective | Robert Crais | James Daniels |
| 2004 | The Namesake | Jhumpa Lahiri | Sarita Choudhury |
| 2003 | Atonement | Ian McEwan | Jill Tanner |
| 2003 | Austerlitz | W. G. Sebald | Richard Matthews |
| 2003 | Sea Glass | Anita Shreve | Judith Ann Gantly |
| 2003 | Unless | Carol Shields | Joan Allen |
| 2002 | Bel Canto | Ann Patchett | Anna Fields |
| 2002 | Priestess of Avalon | Marion Zimmer Bradley | Bernadette Dunne |
| 2001 | Dubliners | James Joyce | Multiple narrators |
| 2001 | War of the Rats | David L. Robbins | George Guidall |
| 2000 | Duane's Depressed | Larry McMurtry | Larry McMurtry |
| 2000 | The Testament | John Grisham | Frank Muller |
| 1999 | Oliver Twist | Charles Dickens | Miriam Margolyes |
| 1999 | Summer Sisters | Judy Blume | Kate Reading |
| 1998 | American Pastoral | Philip Roth | Ron Silver |
| 1998 | Lolita | Vladimir Nabokov | Jeremy Irons |
| 1997 | Odyssey | Homer (trans. Robert Fagles) | Ian McKellen |
| 1997 | The Runaway Jury | John Grisham | Frank Muller |
| 1996 | Dead Man's Walk | Larry McMurtry | Will Patton |
| 1996 | Montana 1948 | Larry Watson | Beau Bridges |
Listen to an Audie-finalist fiction audiobook free
An Audible Premium Plus trial is free for 30 days and includes one credit — enough to get one audiobook of your choice and keep it, even if you cancel.
Try Audible free for 30 daysAs an Amazon Associate, AudiobookIndex earns from qualifying purchases and program sign-ups made through links on this page.
See also: Audiobook of the Year · Best Narrator winners · Grammy audiobook winners.