Audiobooks by Christopher Isherwood

"Berlin, the Greek Islands, London and California. 1928, 1932, 1938 and 1940. Four portraits, four settings, four narrators, all known as ‘Christopher Isherwood’. Down There on a Visit tells the vivid stories of Isherwood’s life that, together with The Berlin Novels (Mr Norris Changes Trains and Goodbye to Berlin), were to have comprised his great unfinished epic novel. Delivering the reflective, candid narration that touches on identity, desire, alienation and the urge to belong, Simon Callow brings an exquisite sparkle to each character sketch."

Christopher Isherwood (Author), Simon Callow (Narrator)

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The World in the Evening

"At a party in the Hollywood Hills, Stephen Monk finds his wife in the arms of another man. Betrayed and furious, he packs his belongings and returns to the home in which he was born. There he begins to retrace the steps that have brought him to this crisis. He is reminded of his own betrayals and weaknesses. The memory of his lost love, Elizabeth Rydal, haunts him. Can he forgive his wife, and, most importantly, himself? Isherwood’s poignant novel, set against the backdrop of war and exile, is encapsulated here by Adam Sims, with Lucy Scott as the voice of Elizabeth."

Christopher Isherwood (Author), Adam Sims, Lucy Scott (Narrator)

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The Memorial

"The First World War is over. Eric Vernon is on the cusp of adulthood. Tall, bony and awkward, he finds himself torn between a desire to emulate his heroic father, who led a life of quiet sacrifice, and resentment toward his father’s roguish friend Edward Blake, who survived the war only to throw himself into gay life in Berlin. With subtle wit and trademark irony, Isherwood’s second novel evokes a society in flux. Its many facets are voiced here with true sophistication and warmth by Nicholas Boulton."

Christopher Isherwood (Author), Nicholas Boulton (Narrator)

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Christopher Isherwood: A BBC Radio Collection: Three Full-Cast BBC Radio Adaptations including Mr Norris Changes Trains

"Full-cast dramatisations of three insightful novels by Christopher Isherwood, plus a bonus interview Novelist and playwright Christopher Isherwood is best known for The Berlin Stories of pre-Hitler Germany, which inspired the musical Cabaret. Many of his works have been adapted for stage and screen. This BBC Radio collection comprises full-cast adaptations of three of the Anglo-American’s acclaimed works, together with a riveting interview with Isherwood himself. Mr Norris Changes Trains – The Berlin Stories Part One. 1930. Travelling by train to Berlin, impressionable young English teacher William Bradshaw asks his fellow passenger for a light. This chance meeting leads to a bizarre friendship, as William is caught up in the strange world of the mysterious, disreputable Mr Norris… Michael Maloney and David March star in this evocative portrait of the last, decadent years of the Weimar Republic and the rise of Nazism. Christopher Himself – Charting the young Isherwood’s creative coming of age in the movie world of the 1930s, and his relationship with his Austrian mentor, the autocratic director Friedrich Bergmann, this piece was written by Philip Glassborow inspired by Isherwood's Prater Violet. Starring David Suchet and Adam Godley, and featuring interviews with Isherwood’s partner Don Bachardy and biographer Kate Bucknell. A Single Man – Following the death of his young lover, Jim, middle-aged English college professor George must deal with his feelings of grief, loneliness and alienation. Alec McCowen stars in this radio dramatisation of Isherwood’s 1964 novel, which was adapted as an Oscar-nominated film (starring Colin Firth and Julianne Moore) in 2009. Christopher and His Kind – Recorded in 1977, soon after Isherwood published his autobiography ‘Christopher and His Kind’, the author chats to novelist and critic Paul Bailey about the formative experiences of his life, and how he used them in his novels. Cast and credits Written by Christopher Isherwood Mr Norris Changes Trains Mr Norris – David March William Bradshaw – Michael Maloney Helen Pratt – Sheila Grant Fraulein Schroeder – Hilda Schroder Friedrich/Otto – Haydn Wood Waiter – Spencer Banks Schmidt – Adrian Egan Baron von Pregnitz – Sean Arnold Whore/Portress – Denica Fairman Anni – Deborah Paige Bayer – Wolf Kahler German Official/Policeman/Waiter – Danny Schiller Dramatised by Eric Ewens Directed by David Spenser First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 16-23 Sep 1984 Christopher Himself Isherwood – Adam Godley Bergmann – David Suchet Brian – Bernard Cribbins Mother – Sylvestra Le Touzel Waitress – Polly March Meadwell – Robert Meadwell Written by Philip Glassborow With scenes based on the novel Prater Violet by Christopher Isherwood Directed by Beaty Rubens Music: Guy Meredith First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 20 Aug 2004 A Single Man George – Alec McCowen Charley – Rosemary Martin Jim – William Gaminara Kenny – Neil Roberts Doris – Liza Ross Mrs Strunk – Valerie Colgan Andy – Angelo Gibson Cynthia – Bonnie Hurren Rick – Michael Morris Nurse – Jane Whittenshaw Adapted for radio by Michael Michaelian from his own stage play Directed by Glyn Dearman First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 10 Nov 1991 Christopher and his Kind Presented by Paul Bailey With Christopher Isherwood First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 28 Mar 1977 © 2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd"

Christopher Isherwood (Author), Alec McCowen, David March, David Suchet, Full Cast, Michael Maloney, Mick Ford, Neil Roberts, Patricia Routledge, Rosemary Martin, William Gaminara (Narrator)

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Mr Norris Changes Trains

"On a train to Berlin in late 1930, William Bradshaw locks eyes with Arthur Norris. This chance encounter ignites a close friendship between the two Englishmen, one that draws Bradshaw into the seedier quarters of the city. Here, Norris runs a dubious import–export business and lives in excited fear of his bullying secretary, his creditors and his dominatrix girlfriend, Anni. Yet there is something sinister about Norris himself. Bradshaw’s new companion is a man of contradictions: heavily in debt but extraordinarily lavish, excessively polite but sexually deviant. He soon pulls the gullible Bradshaw deep into a dangerous political game. ‘A sort of glorified shocker,’ as Isherwood described it, Mr Norris Changes Trains (1935) brings to life the city of Berlin, teetering on the edge of catastrophe. Nicholas Boulton is in his element with its razor-sharp prose and dark humour."

Christopher Isherwood (Author), Nicholas Boulton (Narrator)

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Prater Violet

"With one impatient phone call, a young Christopher Isherwood is drawn into the film industry. On the other end of the line is the brilliant yet temperamental Austrian director Friedrich Bergmann. Christopher’s job is to rescue the script of a saccharine love story set in nineteenth-century Vienna, a film called Prater Violet. Meanwhile, in the real Vienna of 1934, the Austrian right crushes a socialist uprising. Bergmann is distraught; his family is in danger in Vienna, while his prophecy of a coming war goes unheeded by his British colleagues. As tensions on set grow, studio intrigues and competing egos threaten to derail the film, all while Hitler’s shadow lengthens over Europe. This satirical tale has all the charm and observational prowess of Isherwood’s more famous novels, Goodbye to Berlin and A Single Man. Hailed as a ‘masterpiece’, a ‘discovery’, a ‘gem’, it is showcased here in audio by the versatile Daniel Weyman."

Christopher Isherwood (Author), Daniel Weyman (Narrator)

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A Meeting by the River

"Breaking a long silence, Oliver, a young Englishman, writes to his elder brother, Patrick. Oliver, the idealistic younger brother, is living in a Hindu monastery and has decided to take his final monastic vows. Patrick, a successful, long-married publisher, newly in love with a boy in Los Angeles, decides to visit Oliver to persuade him not to renounce the world. First published in 1967, A Meeting by the River exposes the complex rivalries of sibling relationships and dramatises the conflict between sexuality and spirituality. It is brought to life in this multi-voice narration by Justin Avoth as Patrick and Nicholas Burns as Oliver."

Christopher Isherwood (Author), Justin Avoth, Nicholas Burns (Narrator)

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All the Conspirators

"The scene is 1920s Kensington and Philip and Joan are testing the very limits of politeness and restraint as they fight to expunge the oppression of their mother – by whatever means necessary. In his first novel, Christopher Isherwood paints an intimate portrait of the battle between old and young as he explores the destruction of a son by a domineering parent. Through the voice of Nicholas Burns, sympathetic and intelligent, the author’s experimental style is clear, fresh and alive."

Christopher Isherwood (Author), Nicholas Burns (Narrator)

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A Single Man

"George is heartbroken after the death of his lover, Jim. A professor of English in sunny, suburban California, George grieves in solitude, surrounded by easy-going, uncomprehending youth. Beneath his British restraint, waves of sorrow and anger surge. He doggedly persists with the routines of his past life, heading out to work, to the gym, on again to dinner. From his solitude springs defiance; he will triumph over loneliness and alienation, he will find love again, he will feel joy. Isherwood’s short, poignant novel, long recognized as a masterpiece, is a founding work of contemporary gay literature. Alex Jennings, in this celebrated performance, captures every nuance."

Christopher Isherwood (Author), Alex Jennings (Narrator)

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Goodbye to Berlin

"1930s Berlin is a realm of glamour and sleaze, poverty and excess. A lonely young Brit working on a novel is charmed by his landlady and her bohemian lodgers. He rooms with an English runaway and want-to-be star, the delightfully decadent Sally Bowles, and holidays on the Baltic coast with a repressed Englishman and his swaggering German lover. He is the elusive Herr Issyvoo, Mr Isherwood, Chris, Christoph, recording all in his ‘diary’, dishing on the city’s sexy, hungry nightlife, unable to look away from the violence erupting against Jews and leftists as Hitler rises to power. Christopher Isherwood’s Berlin is a sparkling city, perched on the edge of an abyss. The novel, both cinematic and intimate, was reborn as the hit musical Cabaret. Michael York, who starred opposite Liza Minnelli in its film version, later made this acclaimed reading of the book, expressing beautifully its commingling of decadence and decline. Goodbye to Berlin is a kind of love letter, and an exhilarating farewell to a vanished world."

Christopher Isherwood (Author), Michael York (Narrator)

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The Berlin Stories

"First published in the 1930s, The Berlin Stories contains two novels, The Last of Mr. Norris and Goodbye to Berlin. Classics of modern fiction, these novellas capture 1931 Berlin—charming, grotesque, and dangerous, as Hitler was ascending to power. The Berlin Stories is inhabited by a wealth of characters, in particular the nightclub performer Sally Bowles, whose misadventures were popularized on stage and screen in I Am a Camera and Cabaret."

Christopher Isherwood (Author), Michael York (Narrator)

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Audiobooks by Christopher Isherwood

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