A Man Called Ove audiobook vs book: which should you choose?
The book is about a widower with fixed ideas and neighbours who will not leave him alone, and an Oscar-winning actor reads the audiobook.
Content note: sources list grief and repeated suicide attempts among the novel’s themes. This page does not describe them.
Short answer: for the A Man Called Ove audiobook vs book choice, we say listen on Audible (67% confidence, leaning). The edition we scored is read by J.K. Simmons and runs 9 hours 13 minutes, unabridged; Joan Walker’s UK recording runs 9 hours 12 minutes. One viewpoint, one narrator and an Earphones Award reading favour audio. The flashback chapters, which alternate with the present-day story, favour print.
Listen on Audible
One viewpoint, one narrator and an Earphones Award reading favour audio, along with Swedish names that listeners say audio helps with. Flashbacks woven between present-day chapters favour reading.
Affiliate links: we may earn a small commission, at no cost to you. It never changes a verdict.
Confidence 67%, which puts it in the leaning band. Bands run from close call at 50 to 64, through leaning at 65 to 79 and clear at 80 to 94, up to clear cut at 95 and above.
The audiobook at a glance
| Recording | J.K. Simmons, our verdict (Simon & Schuster Audio, UK and US) | Joan Walker (Sceptre, UK and US) |
|---|---|---|
| Narrator | J.K. Simmons | Joan Walker |
| Length | 9 hours 13 minutes (9h 13m) | 9 hours 12 minutes (9h 12m) |
| At 1.5x | about 6h 9m | 6h 8m |
| At 2x | about 4h 37m | 4h 36m |
| Abridged or unabridged | Unabridged | Unabridged |
| Audio publisher and year | Simon & Schuster Audio, 26 November 2019 | Sceptre (Hodder & Stoughton), 3 July 2014 |
| Print length | 295 pages in the UK (Sceptre paperback); 368 pages in the US (Atria trade paperback) | Same book |
| Price | £13.84 on Audible UK; $19.49 on Audible US | £15.79 on Audible UK |
Both recordings are sold on Audible UK and Audible US. A third English recording, read by George Newbern (Dreamscape Media, 2014, 9h 9m), turns up only on CD and OverDrive in US libraries; we did not find it on Audible.
Lengths checked 17 October 2026. Speed times are calculated from the listed length. Prices are a snapshot on the same date.
A Man Called Ove
Fredrik Backman
- Genre
- Contemporary fiction
- Published
- 2012 in Swedish; English translation 2014
- Length
- 295 pages (Sceptre paperback, UK); 368 pages (Atria, US)
- On audio
- 9 hrs 13 mins, read by J.K. Simmons; also Joan Walker, 9 hrs 12 mins
- On screen
- A Man Called Ove (Sweden, 2015); A Man Called Otto (2022), with Tom Hanks
On this page
Why we reached this verdict
Every book on this site is checked against the same thirteen questions. They are based on research into what most people find easier to follow in each format, not on whether the book is any good.
Listening: single point of view and narrator (7), award-winning or praised narration (6), unfamiliar names or dialect (3), 16 points. Reading: jumping timelines (8), 8 points. 67% of the confirmed points favour listening, so the verdict is listen on Audible at 67% confidence (leaning).
The recording in detail
- Three English recordings
- J.K. Simmons (Simon & Schuster Audio, 26 November 2019, 9h 13m), Joan Walker (Sceptre, 3 July 2014, 9h 12m) and George Newbern (Dreamscape Media, 2014, 9h 9m, US libraries only)
- Scored edition
- Simmons’s, read by an Academy Award-winning actor and sold on both Audible UK and Audible US
- Listener ratings
- Simmons: 4.8 from 21,760 on Audible US and 5.0 from 1 on Audible UK. Walker: 4.7 from 4,911 on Audible UK and 4.7 from 1,085 on Audible US. As of October 2026
- What audio adds
- Comic timing from an actor listeners describe as suited to playing a curmudgeon
- What you miss
- The sentence-style chapter titles in print, unless the recording reads them out, which we could not confirm
What this book actually is
A Man Called Ove is Fredrik Backman’s debut, published in Swedish as En man som heter Ove by Forum on 27 August 2012 and in English, translated by Henning Koch, in 2014. The Sceptre paperback in the UK runs to 295 pages and the Atria trade paperback in the US to 368. It reached the New York Times list 18 months after publication and stayed for 42 weeks (Wikipedia).
Ove is a widower with fixed ideas about how things should be done, and new neighbours keep getting in his way. The book stays with him in close third person, and its present-day chapters alternate with chapters from his past. Chapter titles are full sentences starting with his name, such as “A Man Called Ove Buys a Computer That Is Not a Computer”.
It has been filmed twice: the Swedish A Man Called Ove, which premiered on 25 December 2015 and received two Academy Award nominations, and A Man Called Otto with Tom Hanks, moved to Pittsburgh and released in the US in December 2022 and January 2023.
The case for reading it
The case for print is the flashbacks. Present-day chapters alternate with chapters set in Ove’s past, and in print you can turn back to check which period a chapter belongs to. A listener has to place each one as it begins.
The chapter titles are the other draw. The first is “A Man Called Ove Buys a Computer That Is Not a Computer”, and titles like that are part of the joke. We could confirm only the first, and could not confirm whether the recordings read the titles aloud. Shelf Awareness praised the book’s “lyrical language”, though most reviews praise the humour.
The case for listening to it
This is a book with one point of view and short chapters, about the length of a magazine article by design (LitCharts). Everything comes through Ove, so there is no viewpoint to lose track of, and the flashbacks follow only his own past.
The comedy is why the choice of recording matters. Kirkus called the book “hysterically funny”, and a grumpy old man’s jokes depend on timing. J.K. Simmons, who won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Whiplash, reads the 2019 recording, and Audible listeners describe him as suited to the part. It is rated 4.8 from 21,760 ratings on Audible US, as of October 2026.
The audiobook in detail
There are three English recordings. We scored J.K. Simmons’s, released by Simon & Schuster Audio on 26 November 2019 and sold on both Audible UK and Audible US. It runs 9 hours 13 minutes, unabridged: about 6 hours 9 minutes at 1.5x and about 4 hours 37 minutes at 2x.
Joan Walker reads the UK publisher’s edition (Sceptre, 3 July 2014), at 9 hours 12 minutes: 6 hours 8 minutes at 1.5x and 4 hours 36 minutes at 2x. She also reads Backman’s My Grandmother Sends Her Regards and Apologises and Britt-Marie Was Here, and on Audible UK her recording has 4,911 ratings to Simmons’s one, as of October 2026. George Newbern read the first US edition (Dreamscape Media, 2014, 9 hours 9 minutes), which we found only on CD and OverDrive in US libraries.
Who should ignore this verdict
Readers who want the chapter titles in front of them, or who like to place each flashback by sight: print will serve you better. Listeners who know Joan Walker’s readings of Backman’s other novels may prefer her UK recording, which sits beside Simmons’s on Audible UK.
Audiobook
- Read by J.K. Simmons, or Joan Walker
- 9h 13m, or about 6h 9m at 1.5x
Read differently from most people? The app, coming soon, will let you switch off any of the thirteen checks. Get notified →
Related verdicts
My Friends
Another Backman novel, told by a narrator who speaks directly to the reader.
Theo of Golden
An older man at the centre of a community story, where our verdict is to read it.
The Thursday Murder Club
Comic fiction with older lead characters, where our verdict is to read it.
Start hereHow we decide
The thirteen questions behind every verdict on this site.
Questions people ask
Who narrates the A Man Called Ove audiobook?
J.K. Simmons reads the 2019 Simon & Schuster Audio recording, sold on Audible UK and US, which is the edition we scored. Joan Walker reads the UK publisher’s 2014 edition. George Newbern read an earlier US edition, which as of October 2026 we found only in US libraries.
How long is the A Man Called Ove audiobook?
The A Man Called Ove audiobook read by J.K. Simmons is 9 hours 13 minutes (9h 13m), unabridged. At 1.5x it takes about 6 hours 9 minutes, at 2x about 4 hours 37 minutes (calculated). Joan Walker’s version is 9 hours 12 minutes.
Is the A Man Called Ove audiobook abridged?
No. All three English recordings of A Man Called Ove, by Joan Walker, J.K. Simmons and George Newbern, are unabridged.
Should I read or listen to A Man Called Ove?
Listen on our checks (67% confidence, leaning). One viewpoint, one narrator and J.K. Simmons’s Earphones Award reading favour audio; the flashback chapters, which alternate with the present-day story, favour print.
Does J.K. Simmons narrate A Man Called Ove?
Yes. J.K. Simmons reads the Simon & Schuster Audio recording of A Man Called Ove, released 26 November 2019, 9 hours 13 minutes. It is the edition we scored. In the UK the publisher’s own edition is read by Joan Walker.
Is A Man Called Otto based on A Man Called Ove?
Yes. A Man Called Otto, starring Tom Hanks, is an English-language remake of the 2015 Swedish film of Fredrik Backman’s novel, moved to suburban Pittsburgh.
Do you agree with this verdict?
We said listen on Audible. One tap, no sign-up.
Spotted a mistake on this page? Tell us and we will fix it. Or tell us how the site could be better.
How this verdict was reached
Every book on this site is checked against the same thirteen questions, set in advance and applied identically to every title. They are based on research into what readers and listeners generally find easier to follow in each format, not on personal preference, and they are published in full so you can check the reasoning yourself. Verdicts are never paid for, sponsored or influenced by affiliate partners.
- The criteria: read the thirteen questions in full.
- What we checked for this book: the J.K. Simmons and Joan Walker listings on Audible UK and Audible US, US library records for George Newbern’s recording, Sceptre and Atria edition details, Kirkus, Shelf Awareness, LitCharts on the structure, and Wikipedia on the novel and both films.
- Verdict last reviewed: 23 October 2026. Editions and narrators change, so verdicts are rechecked annually.
- Prefer different criteria? The app, coming soon, will let you change which of the thirteen questions matter to you.
Deciding about a different book?
Search for it. If we've written it up, we'll take you to the verdict. If not, we'll add it to our list of books to check.