William Gerald Golding (William Golding | Official website) was an English novelist, playwright, and poet. Best known for his debut novel Lord of the Flies (1954), he published another twelve volumes of fiction in his lifetime. In 1980, he was awarded the Booker Prize for Rites of Passage, the first novel in what became his sea trilogy, To the Ends of the Earth. He was awarded the 1983 Nobel Prize in Literature.
As a result of his contributions to literature, Golding was knighted in 1988. He was a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. In 2008, The Times ranked Golding third on its list of ‘The 50 greatest British writers since 1945’.
Published in 1955, The Inheritors is William Golding’s second novel and was the author’s personal favourite. It is widely considered a masterpiece of 20th-century literature, following a small group of Neanderthals (the “People”) as they encounter the violent, technologically advanced Homo sapiens (the “New People”).
Be prepared for a slow impressionistic style, and that the book acknowledges the human propensity for violence and urge toward domination.
That aggression and violence pay off is a fact borne out by politics on the international stage in January 2026. It would have saddened William Golding but not surprised him.
Check if this celebrated novel is in stock at your local library by consulting the online catalogue here Home | South Lanarkshire Libraries (sllclibrary.co.uk)
272 pages In Penguin Classics paperback
First published 1955
ISBN-13 : 978-0143138785
William Golding