Climate fiction, or climate change fiction, usually abbreviated to cli-fi (modelled on the rhyming sounds of ‘sci-fi’) is a literary genre that deals with climate change. Here are some of our top picks.

The World Without Us by Mireille Juchau

Told from the perspective of six, interconnected characters, The World Without Us is a tale of love in all its forms, a mystery, and an elegy for a denatured landscape. This astonishing novel was recently named the winner of the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Fiction.

‘A triumph on every level.’ – From the judges of the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Fiction 2016

When the Floods Came by Clare Morrall

In a world prone to violent flooding, Britain, ravaged 20 years earlier by a deadly virus, has been largely cut off from the rest of the world. Survivors are few and far between, most of them infertile. Children, the only hope for the future, are a rare commodity. For 22-year-old Roza Polanski, life with her family in their isolated tower block is relatively comfortable, until a mysterious stranger appears and changes everything.

‘A literary thriller that forces readers to consider questions of family and survival.’ – Bronte Coates, Digital Content Coordinator at Readings

Solar by Ian McEwan

Michael Beard is a Nobel prize-winning physicist whose best work is behind him, and a compulsive womaniser whose fifth marriage is floundering. When Beard’s professional and personal worlds collide in a freak accident, an opportunity presents itself for Beard to extricate himself from his marital mess, reinvigorate his career and save the world from environmental disaster.

‘I don’t remember the last time I read a novel as funny as this. A madcap romp from beginning to end.’ – Martin Shaw, former Head Book Buyer at Readings

The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi

In a future hammered by climate change and drought, mountain snows have turned to rain, and rain evaporates before it hits the ground. In a fragmenting United States, the cities of Phoenix and Las Vegas skirmish for a dwindling share of the Colorado River. But it is the Las Vegas water knives – assassins, terrorists and spies – who are legendary for protecting Las Vegas’ water supplies, and for ensuring Phoenix’s ruin.

‘This dystopian novel could very well be seen as a prophetic vision of the future.’ – Jason Austin, Buyer at Readings Carlton

Oryx and Crake, The Year of the Flood and Maddaddam by Margaret Atwood

Pigs might not fly but they are strangely altered. So, for that matter, are wolves and racoons. A man, once named Jimmy, lives in a tree, wrapped in old bedsheets, now calls himself Snowman. The voice of Oryx, the woman he loved, teasingly haunts him. And the green-eyed Children of Crake are, for some reason, his responsibility.

‘Living in a time where it’s now possible to download and print a gun, it was all too easy to picture Atwood’s imagination turned outwards.’ – Bronte Coates, Digital Content Coordinator at Readings

Clade by James Bradley

Set over ten chapters and across three generations, James Bradley depicts a near future beset by catastrophic climate change. The novel opens with Adam, a scientist, and his wife Ellie, an artist, and their decision to have a child.

‘Carefully constructed and beautifully written.’ – Annie Condon, Bookseller at Readings Hawthorn

A Wrong Turn at the Office of Unmade Lists by Jane Rawson

It is 1997 in San Francisco and Simon and Sarah have been sent on a quest to see America. Decades later, in an Australian city that has fallen on hard times, Caddy is camped by the Maribyrnong River, living on small change from odd jobs, ersatz vodka and memories. But when her friend stumbles across some well-worn maps, including one of San Francisco, Caddy’s future changes shape.

‘A free-range and funny apocalyptic time-space road trip, with James M. Cain, J. G. Ballard, and Tom Robbins all fighting for the wheel.’ – Steven Amsterdam, author

Gold Fame Citrus by Claire Vaye Watkins

Desert sands have laid waste to the south-west of America. Las Vegas is buried. California – and anyone still there – is stranded. Any way out is severely restricted. But Luz and Ray are not leaving. They survive on water rations, black market fruit and each other’s need. Luz needs Ray, and Ray must be needed.

‘The work of an author with a wild imagination and the writing chops to realise its horizons.’ – Alison Huber, Head Book Buyer at Readings

The Swan Book by Alexis Wright

The Swan Book is set in the future, with Aboriginals still living under the Intervention in the north, in an environment fundamentally altered by climate change. With this work, Wright offers a remarkable combination of storytelling elements drawn from myth, legend and fairy tale.

‘Wright positions the land like a living creature, volatile and moving with as much fierce energy as the operatic cast of characters.’ – Belle Place, former Editor of Readings Monthly

Anchor Point by Alice Robinson

As her parents clash over unwashed dishes and unlit fires, 10-year-old Laura works hard to keep the household running. When her mother disappears into the bush, Laura finds a farewell note and makes an impulsive decision that alters the course of her family’s life.

‘A vehicle for Alice Robinson’s concerns about climate change and the world our children will inherit.’ – From the judges of the Stella Prize 2016

Flight Behaviour by Barbara Kingsolver

On the Appalachian Mountains above her home, a young mother discovers a beautiful and terrible marvel of nature: the monarch butterflies have not migrated south for the winter this year. Is this a miraculous message from God, or a spectacular sign of climate change. Entomology expert, Ovid Byron, certainly believes it is the latter. He ropes in Dellarobia to help him decode the mystery of the monarch butterflies.

‘Urgent and masterly.’ – Guardian