Author Guide
Amor Towles Books in Order
All Amor Towles novels — Rules of Civility, A Gentleman in Moscow, and The Lincoln Highway. Elegant, witty, and deeply humane historical fiction.
🏛️ Historical Fiction
3 Novels
🎭 TV Adaptation
About Amor Towles
Amor Towles spent fifteen years as an investment professional in New York before becoming a full-time writer. His books reflect that patience — each one is meticulously constructed, with sharp wit, deep historical research, and characters who radiate intelligence and grace.
Towles writes about confinement and freedom. A Gentleman in Moscow is literally set inside one hotel for thirty-plus years; Rules of Civility confines itself to a single year in 1930s Manhattan; The Lincoln Highway takes place over just ten days. Within those tight frames, his characters discover vast interior worlds.
A Gentleman in Moscow was adapted into a Paramount+ miniseries in 2024, starring Ewan McGregor as Count Rostov.
Best starting point: Start with A Gentleman in Moscow — it's his masterpiece and the most universally loved. If you prefer stories set in America, try Rules of Civility first. Either works as an entry point.
All Books in Order
Debut Novel — 2011
Rules of Civility
New York, 1938
Katey Kontent, a young woman of modest means in 1930s Manhattan, navigates the city's social strata after a chance encounter with a handsome banker. A portrait of ambition, friendship, and the city itself — told with gorgeous prose and sharp social observation.
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Second Novel — 2016 — Most Loved
A Gentleman in Moscow
Russia, 1920–1954
Count Alexander Rostov is sentenced to house arrest in the Metropol Hotel by a Bolshevik tribunal. Over the next 32 years, as Russia transforms around him, he builds a rich life within a single building. One of the warmest, most satisfying novels of the 21st century. A book people press into each other's hands.
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Third Novel — 2021
The Lincoln Highway
America, 1954
Emmett Watson is released from a work farm and plans to drive west with his younger brother. But two unexpected companions hijack the journey, turning it into a ten-day odyssey across 1950s America. His most adventurous and structurally inventive book — literary but page-turning.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Which Amor Towles book is his best?
A Gentleman in Moscow is the consensus favourite — and for good reason. It's warm, witty, and perfectly constructed. But all three novels are genuinely excellent; many readers have a different personal favourite depending on their taste. Rules of Civility is the most stylish; The Lincoln Highway is the most adventurous.
Are Amor Towles' books connected to each other?
No — all three are completely standalone novels set in different eras and countries. You can read them in any order. The books share Towles' voice and sensibility but have no plot or character connections.
Is A Gentleman in Moscow a sad book?
Not really — it's surprisingly joyful given its premise. The Count is confined to a hotel as the Soviet regime transforms Russia, yet the book is about finding richness, beauty, and meaning within constraints. It's ultimately a deeply hopeful and life-affirming novel.