Here, in my view, are the best of the best writers ever. They’re in no particular order and the list is obviously idiosyncratic, yet it is drawn from a lifetime of wide and eclectic reading. You may find the list interesting, if only because it makes you yell out, “No way!”

The most sensitive writing: Daphne du Maurier – her complete opus

The most moving writing: Ursula K. le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness

The best story: Isaac Asimov, The Foundation Trilogy

The most beautiful writing: Aldous Huxley – anything at all

The deepest writing: Edna O’Brien, The Country Girls Trilogy

The best science fiction, John Wyndham, The Day of the Triffids

The most thought-provoking fiction: Ray Bradbury, The Martian Chronicles

The most more-ish series: The 87th Precinct stories by Ed McBain

The best fantasy: J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

Most gripping fiction: Wilkie Collins, The Moonstone

The most intelligent writing: Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species

The funniest book: John Cleese and Connie Booth, The Complete Fawlty Towers scripts

The best long poem: Dylan Thomas, Under Milk Wood

The best poetry collection: Sylvia Plath, Ariel

The best play: William Shakespeare, Hamlet

Best comic/graphic novel: Dan Dare from The Eagle

Feel free to add your own favourites in the comments – or to dispute mine, if you dare! Perhaps I’ll do a “worst ever” list one day. That will upset a few people!