Published 1959, Sirens of Titan contains Marxist themes and discusses issues of free will and the purpose of human history.

Published in 1963, this book explores issues of science, technology and religion, satirizing the arms race when a new form of ice is discovered that freezes at room temperature.

Published in 1969, Slaughterhouse-Five is one of Vonnegut's most popular works and widely regarded as a classic. It combines science fiction elements with an analysis of the human condition from an uncommon perspective, using time travel as a plot device. The bombing of Dresden in World War II, the aftermath of which Vonnegut witnessed, is the starting point.

Written in 1976, in Slapstick Vonnegut muses on war, man's hubris, and the awful, crippling loneliness with which humans are faced. Told in autobiographical form, the novel concerns the life story of Dr. Wilbur Daffodil-11 Swain, the last President of the United States, King of Manhattan, and one-half (along with his sister, Eliza) of the most powerful intelligence since Einstein.

Published in 1982, Deadeye Dick is a romp through a host of horrors–a double murder, a fatal dose of radioactivity, a decapitation, an annihilation of a city by a neutron bomb.

Published in 1987, Bluebeard is the fictional autobiography of Rabo Karabekian, a retired painter who at age 71 wants to be left alone on his Long Island estate with the secret he has locked in his potato barn. The secret of the potato barn has enticed collectors to make outrageous offers and to raise suspicions of stolen masterpieces.

Published in 1997. Timequake explores the nature of free will while revisting one of Vonnegut's most memorable characters, Kilgore Trout, who is faced with a millennial catastrophe.