I'm currently reading Iris Murdoch's "Under the Net" which is a fair to middling novel. However, it got me thinking about novelists whose first book has been exceptional (and in some cases set a mark that the author has been unable to reach again)
A list of the best first novels would have to include:
Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
Lucky Jim - Kingsley Amis
Catcher in the Rye - J.D Salinger
V - Thomas Pynchon
Journey to the end of the Night - Louis Ferdinand Celine
Thoughts??