Table for Two
short_story_collection · First published 2024
Author guide
Amor Towles Books in Order
Amor Towles (born 1964) is an American novelist and short-fiction writer. Born and raised near Boston, he graduated from Yale and earned an MA in English from Stanford. After more than two decades as an investment professional, he became a full-time writer. His work often combines historical settings, cosmopolitan social observation, literary allusion, and carefully structured plots. He lives in Manhattan with his family.
literary fictionhistorical fictionshort fictionspeculative fiction
Catalog record updated .
Amor Towles's Newest Book
Not sure where to begin?
Start with one of these
Rules of Civility
The first novel and the best entry point to Towles's fiction and the Evelyn Ross sequence.
Read in order
Books by series
character-series · complete
Rules of Civility
A sequence centered on Evelyn Ross, who is introduced as Katey Kontent's friend in Rules of Civility and continues in Eve in Hollywood.
- 1 Rules of Civility
Book 1 · novel · 2011
A chance encounter with a handsome banker in a jazz bar on New Year's Eve 1938 catapults Wall Street secretary Katey Kontent into the upper echelons of New York society, where she befriends a shy multi-millionaire, an Upper East Side…
- 2 Eve in Hollywood
Book 1.5 · novella · 2013
Six interlinked short stories that follow Evelyn Ross - the character from Amor Towles's bestselling novel Rules of Civility - to Hollywood in 1938. 'Impossibly glamorous' The Times 'Achingly stylish' Guardian Near the end of RULES OF…
Outside the series
Bibliography by category
Novels (2)
- A Gentleman in Moscow
novel · 2016
In 1922, Count Alexander Rostov is deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, and is sentenced to house arrest in the Metropol, a grand hotel across the street from the Kremlin. Rostov, an indomitable man of erudition and…
- The Lincoln Highway
novel · 2021
"The bestselling author of A Gentleman in Moscow and Rules of Civility and master of absorbing, sophisticated fiction returns with a stylish and propulsive novel set in 1950s America In June, 1954, eighteen-year-old Emmett Watson is…
Short fiction (3)
- You Have Arrived at Your Destination
short_story · 2019
When Sam’s wife first tells him about Vitek, a twenty-first-century fertility lab, he sees it as the natural next step in trying to help their future child get a “leg up” in a competitive world. But the more Sam considers the lives that…
- The Didomenico Fragment
short_story · 2021
From the New York Times best-selling author of A Gentleman in Moscow and Rules of Civility comes a stylish and alluring new story about art, money, and a precious family heirloom - brought magically to life by the beloved voice of…
- Table for Two
short_story_collection · 2024
Frequently asked questions about Amor Towles
Who is Amor Towles?
Amor Towles is a novelist and short-fiction writer who was born and raised in the Boston area, graduated from Yale, and earned an M.A. in English from Stanford. He lives in Manhattan with his family.
Sources: amortowles.com (opens in a new tab)wallacefoundation.org (opens in a new tab)
What did Amor Towles do before becoming a full-time writer?
He spent more than two decades in the investment industry, including 21 years at Select Equity Group, where he was a principal and served as director of research for more than 15 years. He retired in January 2013 and then devoted himself to writing full time.
What influences Amor Towles’s writing?
Towles has said he draws on his fascination with the literature, culture, and history of the 1920s and 1930s, including the era’s novels, films, music, and visual art. He also cites literary classics and conversations with his grandparents as important imaginative influences.
Sources: amortowles.com (opens in a new tab)kirkusreviews.com (opens in a new tab)
What awards and major honors has Amor Towles’s work received?
The French translation of his debut received the 2012 Prix Fitzgerald. A Gentleman in Moscow was a finalist for the 2016 Kirkus Prize and a 2018 Dublin Literary Award nominee.
Sources: amortowles.com (opens in a new tab)kirkusreviews.com (opens in a new tab)dublinliteraryaward.ie (opens in a new tab)
What is Amor Towles best known for?
He is best known for literary fiction set against distinctive historical periods. His four fiction titles have all been New York Times bestsellers, selling more than eight million copies collectively and appearing in more than forty languages.
Sources: amortowles.com (opens in a new tab)kirkusreviews.com (opens in a new tab)