Best Dystopian Audiobooks

Having a top ten of dystopian audiobooks without Orwell’s 1984 would be like not inviting Alice to the tea party. Incredibly prescient and chillingly bleak, this was well ahead of its time.

Margaret Atwood takes us to Gilead, a theocracy where Offred is a handmaid, enslaved to breed children for her master.

Atwood doesn’t do things by halves. She builds her creepy world down to the tiniest details, making it easy to see how this has become a modern classic. I originally listened to Joanna David narrate this. Nowadays, it’s read by an entire cast led by the TV show’s star, Elisabeth Moss.

This is one of the most beautiful books I have ever read. It’s a mystery and a dystopia and a heartbreaking story of friendship. I daren’t say more except that if you haven’t read it, do.

Kafka explores authoritarian rule from a satirical angle in The Trial. In the story, Joseph K is an upstanding member of society. Why then has he been arrested? They won’t tell him. But everything he says or does only further confirms his guilt. Funny, dark and chilling, this is dystopia distilled into one of its most sinister facets.

Panem rose out of the ruins of North America. Depending on where you’re born, life can be harsh and unforgiving or glittering and opulent. And in this polarised society ruled by the most brutal of regimes, children are forced to fight for their lives in The Hunger Games. The original narrator, Carolyn McCormick, gives a sinister performance I quite enjoyed, since replaced by Tatiana Maslany, who is excellent as the voice of Katniss.

Sci-Fi royalty Wil Wheaton reads this upbeat, entertaining take on the dystopian genre. And, while Ready Player One is very much set in a miserable authoritarian regime, it is one where virtual reality offers an exciting escape. Chock full of 80s pop culture references, this action packed tale is just plain fun.

Ian Flemming’s classic tale of a group of boys stranded on a desert island is a fascinating interpretation of the nature of children. This micro-dystopia is a must-read. Read it at school? Give it a reread.

Julia Whelan, one of the best voices in the audiobooks game,reads this chilling tale of an America in which women are silenced.

It’s the 1960s. We’re in Berlin. And Hitler has won the War. Initially, this chilling setting seems almost incidental. Robert Harris begins in what’s seemingly a detective mystery, but which develops into an action thriller, uncovering a mass conspiracy. It’s the allusions to small details that make this such a potent picture of this terrifying alternate history, whether it is casually referring to The Fuhrer or SS ranks.

Ray Bradbury’s poetic telling of a vapid world in which books are burned is hypnotic and creepy in its empty portrayal of humanity. It's read by none other than Tim Robbins.