airport novel

Airport novel(s) represent a literary genre that is not so much defined by its plot or cast of stock characters, as much as it is by the social function it serves. An airport novel is typically a fairly long but fast-paced novel of intrigue or adventure that is stereotypically found in the reading fare offered by airport newsstands for travellers to read in the rounds of sitting and waiting that constitute air travel.

Airport is a bestselling 1968 novel by Arthur Hailey about a large metropolitan airport and the personalities of the people who use, rely and suffer from its operation. It was adapted to make a major motion picture starring, among others, Burt Lancaster, George Kennedy, Dean Martin and Van Heflin and inspired three sequel movies: Airport 1975, Airport '77 and The Concorde ... Airport '79.