 | The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman (Penguin Classics) by Laurence Sterne
Buy new: £6.26 / Used from: £2.22 Every characteristic of post-modern fiction is contained in this mid-eighteenth century book. My favourite novel
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 | The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr (Penguin Classics) by E.T.A. Hoffmann
Buy new: £7.92 / Used from: £5.43 A German imitation. Interesting contrast to the likes of Goethe. A rare teutonic attempt at humour
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 | Jacques the Fatalist: And His Master (Classics) by Denis Diderot
Buy new: £6.12 / Used from: £2.59 A French imitation. Breathtakingly modern. A brilliant, hilarious book. Far better than it's more famous contemporary, Candide
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 | Don Quixote (Penguin Classics) by Miguel Cervantes
Buy new: £6.62 / Used from: £1.97 The ur-novel and the primary influence for the previous three on the list. Cervantes is the midwife of the modern spirit
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 | The Third Policeman (Harper Perennial Modern Classics) by Flann O'Brien
Buy new: £4.98 / Used from: £2.53 This is one of the funniest and most inventive novels ever. O'brien is a neglected master, who deserves a share of the fame given to Joyce and Beckett. See also At-Swim-Two-Birds
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