Robert Rankin Bibliography & Biography

Robert Rankin Biography

Robert Rankin is one of my personal favourites. I am lucky enough to have met him a few times at various conventions, and have a nice selection of signed and numbered books in my collection. I even had the good fortune to see him at a party he was throwing to crowdfund his film adaptation of one of his books – it was quite a surreal experience!

Below we have compiled Robert Rankin Bibliography, as well as some information and biography. We will be updating this author page as and when there is new information – or far fetched fiction – to add. If you would like to help with any additions or amendments, please get in touch.

Robert Rankin was born on the 27th July 1949 but he started writing in the late 1970s. His first book The Antipope was released in 1981, but he first entered the bestsellers list in 1999 with Snuff Fiction, by which time his previous eighteen books had sold around one million copies.

His books are a mix of science fiction, fantasy, the occult, urban legends, running gags, metafiction, steampunk and outrageous characters. Robert Rankin describes himself as a teller of tall tales. According to the (largely fictional) biography printed in some Corgi editions of his books, Rankin refers to his style as ‘Far Fetched Fiction’ in the hope that bookshops will let him have a section to himself. Many of Rankin’s books are bestsellers.

Robert Rankin Bibliography

• The Antipope (1981) (see also The Brentford Trilogy)
• The Brentford Triangle (1982) (see also The Brentford Trilogy)
• East of Ealing (1984) (see also The Brentford Trilogy)
• The Sprouts of Wrath (1984) (see also The Brentford Trilogy)
• Armageddon: The Musical (1988) (Armageddon Series)
• They Came and Ate Us (Armageddon II: The B Movie) (1991) (Armageddon Series)
• The Suburban Book of the Dead (Armageddon III: The Remake) (1992) (Armageddon Series)
• The Book of Ultimate Truths (1993) (Cornelius Murphy Series)
• Raiders of the Lost Car Park (1994) (Cornelius Murphy Series)
• The Greatest Show Off Earth (1994)
• The Most Amazing Man Who Ever Lived (1995) (Cornelius Murphy Series)
• The Garden of Unearthly Delights (1995)
• A Dog Called Demolition (1996)
• Nostradamus Ate My Hamster (1996)
• Sprout Mask Replica (1997)
• The Brentford Chainstore Massacre (1997) (see also The Brentford Trilogy)
• The Dance of the Voodoo Handbag (1998)
• Apocalypso (1998)
• Snuff Fiction (1999)
• Sex and Drugs and Sausage Rolls (1999) (see also The Brentford Trilogy)
• Waiting for Godalming (2000)
• Web Site Story (2001)
• Fandom of the Operator (2001)
• The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse (2002)
• The Witches of Chiswick (2003)
• Knees Up Mother Earth (2004) (see also The Brentford Trilogy)
• The Brightonomicon (2005) (see also The Brentford Trilogy)
• The Toyminator (2006)
• The Da-da-de-da-da Code (2007)
• Necrophenia (2008)
• Retromancer (2009)
• The Japanese Devil Fish Girl and Other Unnatural Attractions (2010)
• The Mechanical Messiah and Other Marvels of the Modern Age (2011)
• The Educated Ape and Other Wonders of the Worlds (2012)
• The Chickens of Atlantis and Other Foul and Filthy Fiends (2013)
• The Abominable Showman (2015)
• I, Robert (2015)

Anthologies containing stories by Robert Rankin

• The Mammoth Book of Comic Fantasy (1998)

Short stories

• The Boscombe Walters Story (1996)

Illustrated works

• The Bumper Book of Ficts Neil Gardner, illustrated by Robert Rankin (2010)
• EMPIRES written and illustrated by Robert Rankin (2011) – Published by Far Fetched Books
• ALICE ON MARS written and illustrated by Robert Rankin (2013) – Published by Far Fetched Books
• THE DIVINE COMMODORE (or ‘THE KIWI CHRONICLES’) written and illustrated by Robert Rankin (2014) – Published by Far Fetched Books
• The Book With No Words – ‘Written’ and illustrated by Rober Ranking (2021) – I am lucky enough to own this gem and will be doing a standalone review shortly.

Book Series

Brentford

1. The Antipope (1981)
2. The Brentford Triangle (1983)
3. East of Ealing (1984)
4. The Sprouts of Wrath (1988)
5. The Brentford Chainstore Massacre (1997)
6. Sex and Drugs and Sausage Rolls (1999)
7. Knees Up Mother Earth (2004)
8. The Brightonomicon (2005)
9. Brentford Trilogy (omnibus) (1988)

10. The Lord of the Ring Roads (2017) (The First book in the final Brentford Trilogy) – Limited to 1981 copies

[Image is taken from https://www.facebook.com/robertrankin/]

Synopsis

They are building a ring road around Brentford.

Why? Well, only one man knows for certain and he is the unfeasibly charismatic town clerk. Mr Pocklington.

Could there perhaps be more to this project than meets the eye? Might there be some sinister motive? Possibly of the mind-boggling world-threatening persuasion?

Well, of course, there could! Because this is Brentford. And there wouldn’t be much of a story otherwise.

11. The Chronicles of Banarnia (2018) (The second book in the final Brentford Trilogy) – Limited to 1949 (because the printer messed up)

[Image is taken from https://www.facebook.com/robertrankin/]

Only available to buy through Robert Rankin’s Facebook page.

Armageddon

1. Armageddon, the Musical (1990)
2. They Came and Ate Us (1991)
3. The Suburban Book of the Dead (1992)

Cornelius Murphy

1. The Book of Ultimate Truths (1993)
2. Raiders of the Lost Car Park (1994)
3. The Greatest Show Off Earth (1994)
4. The Most Amazing Man Who ever Lived (1995)

Eddie Bear

1. The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse (2002)
2. The Toyminator (2006)
3. Eddie Bear, Private Detective (omnibus) (2006)

Japanese Devil Fish Girl

1. The Japanese Devil Fish Girl (2010)
2. The Mechanical Messiah (2011)
3. The Educated Ape (2012)
4. The Chickens of Atlantis (2013)