The World According to Garp (1978): After the lukewarm reception that met his first three novels, this was the book that put Irving on the map. Winner of the National Book Foundation's award for paperback fiction in 1980, it became an international best-seller and granted Irving the financial freedom to become a full-time novelist. Revolving around the titular character's attempts to succeed in the worlds of writing, sex and wrestling, Irving drew inspiration for the story from his own New England upbringing and education. Garp received a cinematic outing in 1982, starring Robin Williams and featuring Oscar-nominated supporting turns from Glenn Close and John Lithgow.
The Hotel New Hampshire (1981): A quirky and peculiar tableau of New England family life, Irving's eagerly awaited follow-up to Garp failed to make an impression with the critics but delighted his fans and confirmed the writer's best-selling status. The plot revolves around the lives of the Berry family and their hotel, and ranges from the bizarre - such as a girl who lives her life dressed in a bear costume - to the taboo - the incestuous desire between brother and sister. The film version, released in 1984 and directed by Tony Richardson, starred Rob Lowe, Jodie Foster and Beau Bridges.
The Cider House Rules (1985): Set in a fictional small town in Maine in the 1930s and 40s, Irving's sixth novel is a sprawling coming-of-age odyssey in the tradition of Charles Dickens. It follows the fortunes of Homer Wells, a young boy who grows up in an orphanage where his mentor, the kindly Dr Larch, performs abortions as well as looking after unwanted children. Irving also wrote a screenplay based on his novel, which, after nearly 10 years in development, was made into a film in 1999, directed by Lasse Hallstrom and starring Tobey Maguire, Charlize Theron (right) and Michael Caine. It was worth the wait as Irving picked up the Oscar for best adapted screenplay, while Caine waltzed off with best supporting actor. Irving also wrote the memoir My Movie Business chronicling the lengthy process of bringing his book to the big screen.
A Prayer for Owen Meany (1989): An intriguing tale centring on the life of a strange dwarfish boy who becomes convinced he is an instrument of God after he accidentally kills his best friend's mother during a baseball game. Exploring the concepts of faith and destiny as well as addressing the gash left on the American psyche by the Vietnam war, it was the loose basis for the 1998 film Simon Birch. However, Irving was quick to disassociate himself from the watered-down movie version and asked that his characters' names be changed in the adaptation.
A Widow for One Year (1998): This compelling story of familial dysfunction and its far reaching repercussions charts the life of novelist Ruth Cole. Split into three parts, the book visits Cole at the ages of four, when her family is torn apart by her mother's affair with a 16-year-old boy, at 36, when she is wooed by an older man while on a book tour in Europe, and at 41, when she is forced to finally step out of the shadow of her past. The 2004 film The Door in the Floor, starring Jeff Bridges and Kim Basinger (left), was based on the first third of the book.
