• Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

  • By: Douglas Adams
  • Narrated by: Stephen Fry
  • Length: 5 hrs and 51 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (1,185 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy  By  cover art

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

By: Douglas Adams
Narrated by: Stephen Fry
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $16.93

Buy for $16.93

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Editorial reviews

Master of comedy Stephen Fry delivers a brilliant audiobook narration of the best-selling novel The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, written by Douglas Adams. Arthur Dent is a very British man having a very bad day. He discovers his friend is an alien and he’s taken off earth just as it’s destroyed to make way for a galaxy highway. To make matters worse, he hasn’t even had his morning cup of tea yet. This ingeniously constructed story takes a humorous look at how something as precious as Earth isn’t always appreciated until it’s gone. A lighthearted and enjoyable listen. Available now from Audible.

Publisher's summary

One Thursday lunchtime the Earth gets unexpectedly demolished to make way for a new hyperspace bypass. For Arthur Dent, who has only just had his house demolished that morning, this seems already to be more than he can cope with. Sadly, however, the weekend has only just begun, and the Galaxy is a very strange and startling place.

©1979 Serious Productions Ltd (P)2005 Random House US

Critic reviews

"By turns authoritative as the narrator, bemused as Arthur Dent, deadpan as Ford Prefect and manic as Zaphod Beeblebrox, he [Stephen Fry] makes an altogether appropriate reader . . . The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy" ( The Times)

What listeners say about Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    896
  • 4 Stars
    203
  • 3 Stars
    66
  • 2 Stars
    12
  • 1 Stars
    8
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    925
  • 4 Stars
    96
  • 3 Stars
    24
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    6
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    784
  • 4 Stars
    182
  • 3 Stars
    60
  • 2 Stars
    17
  • 1 Stars
    14

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Probably better as a radio show

Feels a lot like a sci-fi flavoured Monty-Python movie in book form. Not so much a novel, as a series of loosely connected banter-filled sketches. The book’s origins as a radio show are evident since radio would have allowed the dialogue to shine with multiple actors quickly bouncing off of each other. Instead, as a book, the characters often seem quite similar, and the banter slows to make way for a fairly weak plot. Starts off quite fun, but doesn’t really go anywhere. Most chapters a character says something nonsensical, another character will be incredulous, then the first character explains the nonsense by diving into even more nonsense. As a series of short radio segments that might be quite enjoyable, but as a book it got a bit samey.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!