Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, Bookish Wisdom earns from qualifying purchases. This doesn't change our picks or your price.
Quick answer: If you loved Red Dwarf, try Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers, Better Than Life, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, The Colour of Magic and Redshirts. Each one is a funny science fiction story full of misfit crews, absurd situations and sharp jokes.
Red Dwarf began as a BBC sitcom and was turned into novels by its creators Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, writing as Grant Naylor, starting with Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers in 1989. Dave Lister, a slobbish technician, is frozen in stasis and wakes three million years later as the last human alive, with a hologram of his annoying bunkmate Rimmer, a creature evolved from a cat and a senile computer named Holly. Readers love its jokes and its oddly touching heart. These books share its comic space adventures.
Table of Contents
Quick Picks at a Glance
| Book | Author | Style | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers | Grant Naylor | Novel | readers who want the first Red Dwarf novel |
| Better Than Life | Grant Naylor | Novel | readers who want the sequel |
| The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy | Douglas Adams | Novel | readers who want the classic space comedy |
| Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency | Douglas Adams | Novel | readers who want more Adams |
| The Colour of Magic | Terry Pratchett | Novel | readers who like comic fantasy |
| Redshirts | John Scalzi | Novel | readers who like Star Trek jokes |
| Space Opera | Catherynne M. Valente | Novel | readers who like intergalactic absurdity |
| Dungeon Crawler Carl | Matt Dinniman | Novel | readers who like a man and his cat |
| Bill, the Galactic Hero | Harry Harrison | Novel | readers who like military satire |
| The Stainless Steel Rat | Harry Harrison | Novel | readers who like charming rogues |
| Mostly Harmless | Douglas Adams | Novel | readers who want more Hitchhiker's |
| The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet | Becky Chambers | Novel | readers who like found-family crews |
| Murderbot: All Systems Red | Martha Wells | Novella | readers who like grumpy robots |
| Starship Grifters | Robert Kroese | Novel | readers who like con-artist comedy |
| Old Man's War | John Scalzi | Novel | readers who like humorous military sci-fi |
1. Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers by Grant Naylor
Lister wakes three million years in the future.
Best for: readers who want the first Red Dwarf novel.
2. Better Than Life by Grant Naylor
The crew are trapped in a dangerous virtual reality game.
Best for: readers who want the sequel.
3. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
An ordinary man escapes Earth's destruction.
Best for: readers who want the classic space comedy.
4. Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams
A strange detective solves a strange case.
Best for: readers who want more Adams.
5. The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett
A hapless wizard guides a tourist through Discworld.
Best for: readers who like comic fantasy.
6. Redshirts by John Scalzi
Junior crew members notice they keep dying.
Best for: readers who like Star Trek jokes.
7. Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente
Earth must win a galactic song contest to survive.
Best for: readers who like intergalactic absurdity.
8. Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman
A man and his ex's cat fight through an alien game show.
Best for: readers who like a man and his cat.
9. Bill, the Galactic Hero by Harry Harrison
A farm boy is drafted into a ridiculous space war.
Best for: readers who like military satire.
10. The Stainless Steel Rat by Harry Harrison
A master criminal works for an interstellar police force.
Best for: readers who like charming rogues.
11. Mostly Harmless by Douglas Adams
Arthur Dent's later adventures.
Best for: readers who want more Hitchhiker's.
12. The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
A warm story about a tunneling ship's crew.
Best for: readers who like found-family crews.
13. Murderbot: All Systems Red by Martha Wells
A security android just wants to watch TV.
Best for: readers who like grumpy robots.
14. Starship Grifters by Robert Kroese
A rogue and his sarcastic robot get into trouble.
Best for: readers who like con-artist comedy.
15. Old Man's War by John Scalzi
Seniors join the army in new bodies.
Best for: readers who like humorous military sci-fi.
How We Chose These Books
Every pick is a real, widely available book that shares something specific with Red Dwarf: its tone, its themes, its pace or the kind of characters it puts at the center. We mixed well-known favorites with a few less obvious titles, and we noted who each book suits best so you can match it to the reader. Where a book belongs to a series, we list the first volume so you can start at the beginning.
If you are not sure where to begin, start with the first three picks in the table: they are the closest match to Red Dwarf. The rest of the list moves further out, so it works well once you know which part of the original you liked most. If a pick is part of a longer series, read the first book before you commit, and check the age or content notes in the table before passing a book to a younger reader.
How to Choose
Read Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers and Better Than Life first, since Grant Naylor wrote them together. The obvious next step is The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the great British space comedy. If you loved the misfit crew, Redshirts and The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet are warm and funny. For more absurd humor, try Space Opera or Dungeon Crawler Carl.
Related: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams: Summary and Key Takeaways
Frequently Asked Questions
Are there Red Dwarf books?
Yes. There are four novels: two by Grant Naylor, then one each by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor.
What order should I read the Red Dwarf books?
Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers, Better Than Life, then Backwards by Rob Grant and Last Human by Doug Naylor.
Are the books the same as the TV show?
They follow the same characters but tell different, expanded versions of the stories.
Who wrote Red Dwarf?
Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, the show's creators.
What is the Cat?
A creature descended from Lister's pregnant cat, who evolved over three million years.
Is Red Dwarf suitable for teens?
Mostly yes, though it has some crude humor.
What should I read next?
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.