Is there an audiobook of Around the World in Eighty Days?

Yes. Around the World in Eighty Days has an Audible audiobook edition, narrated by Noel Gibilaro.

How long is the Around the World in Eighty Days audiobook?

The Around the World in Eighty Days audiobook runs 7 hr 8 min.

Is Around the World in Eighty Days on Kindle Unlimited?

No. Around the World in Eighty Days was not included with Kindle Unlimited when we last checked on August 5, 2026.

Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne book cover for the Book of the Day adventure book review

Our score

4.6/ 5

Outstanding

Listen to Around the World in Eighty Days free with an Audible trial Narrator, runtime & our audio review

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EDITION PUBLISHEDNovember 1872

PublisherCreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

Genres

Fiction Adventure Classics

Themes

Precision and the conquest of timeThe shrinking modern world of rail and steamDuty versus impulseHow adventure tests character

Around the World in Eighty Days

Name: Around the World in Eighty Days
Price: 4.2 USD
Availability: InStock
Author: Jules Verne

Jules Verne

Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days runs on one beautifully simple engine: a wager, a clock, and a man who refuses to waste a minute. It's a 19th-century travel adventure built like a precision instrument, and it still moves with surprising momentum once Fogg leaves London.

The Review

Our take

The premise is almost a dare to itself. Phileas Fogg, a gentleman so regular he could be used to set the town clocks, bets his club that he can circle the globe in eighty days, exact to the minute, and then proceeds to do it with the serene confidence of a man balancing a budget. What makes the book work isn't the destinations so much as the engineering. Verne treats the journey as a chain of connections—a steamer that must be caught, a train that may or may not run, a missing bridge, a storm, a delay measured in hours that compounds into crisis. Every obstacle is a math problem with stakes, and the pleasure of reading it comes from watching the margin shrink and stretch.

Fogg himself is a wonderful contradiction. He's almost a machine, calm to the point of comedy, but Verne uses that stillness as a foil for everyone around him. Passepartout, his French valet, supplies all the warmth and chaos his master withholds, and the running tension between Fogg's icy calculation and his servant's impulsive heart gives the book its human pulse. Add Detective Fix, who shadows them convinced Fogg is a fleeing bank robber, and you get a clever secondary engine: the thing slowing Fogg down is also, unknowingly, the thing chasing him. That irony powers a good chunk of the middle.

As worldbuilding goes, this is travel-as-system rather than travel-as-wonder. Verne is fascinated by the infrastructure of the late 1800s—the railways, the telegraph, the steamship timetables that suddenly made the planet feel small and conquerable. The book is partly a celebration of that shrinking world, and the internal logic holds up remarkably well; the timekeeping payoff at the end is the kind of clean, satisfying click that makes you appreciate how carefully the whole thing was assembled. The famous elephant ride and the rescue it sets up are the closest the story gets to lush adventure, and that sequence has real heart.

It moves quickly for a classic. Chapters are short, each built around a single problem and its resolution, so the pacing has a brisk, episodic rhythm that holds up even now. Don't come expecting deep interiority—Fogg's emotional life is mostly inferred from his actions, and Verne is more interested in what people do than what they feel. That restraint is part of the charm, but readers who want rich character psychology may find the cast a touch schematic.

Why you should read

Readers who love a tightly plotted premise with a literal ticking clock
Fans of classic adventure and early speculative-minded fiction
Anyone who enjoys the odd-couple dynamic of a buttoned-up master and a lively servant
Travel-story lovers curious about the world the railway and steamship age built

What to expect

Characters are drawn more by action than inner life, so readers wanting deep psychology may find them a bit schematic
Contains dated, Eurocentric depictions of foreign cultures typical of its 1870s origins

The honest caveat is the one that comes with reading any 19th-century travel book today: Verne writes the wider world through a confidently European lens, and some of his depictions of the places and peoples Fogg passes through reflect the casual prejudices of the era. It rarely derails the story, but it's there, and readers sensitive to dated colonial attitudes should know that going in. Taken on its own terms, though, this remains one of the most satisfying adventure premises ever set running—a clockwork chase that still earns its final tick.

Reviewed by Rowan · How our reviews are written

Our verdict

4.6/ 5

Outstanding

Listen to Around the World in Eighty Days free with an Audible trial Narrator, runtime & our audio review

Buy on Amazon

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Prices may vary.

Where to read or listen

Is there an audiobook of Around the World in Eighty Days?: Yes. Around the World in Eighty Days has an Audible audiobook edition, narrated by Noel Gibilaro.
Listen to Around the World in Eighty Days free with an Audible trial
We earn from qualifying Amazon purchases.
How long is the Around the World in Eighty Days audiobook?: The Around the World in Eighty Days audiobook runs 7 hr 8 min.
Is Around the World in Eighty Days on Kindle Unlimited?: No. Around the World in Eighty Days was not included with Kindle Unlimited when we last checked on August 5, 2026.

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Common questions

What is Around the World in Eighty Days about?: The premise is almost a dare to itself. Phileas Fogg, a gentleman so regular he could be used to set the town clocks, bets his club that he can circle the globe in eighty days, exact to the minute, and then proceeds to do it with the serene confidence of a man balancing a budget. What makes the…
Is Around the World in Eighty Days worth reading?: We scored Around the World in Eighty Days 4.6 out of 5. Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days runs on one beautifully simple engine: a wager, a clock, and a man who refuses to waste a minute. It's a 19th-century travel adventure built like a precision instrument, and it still moves with surprising momentum once Fogg leaves…