Games at Twilight (1978) is Desai's only collection of short stories to date. It includes ‘‘Studies in the Park''.

Cry, the Peacock (1963) was the first of Desai's novels to win her critical acclaim. It is about an Indian woman at odds with her family and her role in society.

Desai's Clear Light of Day (1980) is a novel about two Indian sisters and their struggles with Indian culture.

Journey to Ithaca (1995), Desai's most recent novel to date, focuses on a European couple's encounter with Indian culture.

Desai's novel Baumgartner's Bombay (1988) concerns a German-Jewish Holocaust survivor living in India.

Anita Desai's Fiction: Patterns of Survival Strategies (1992) by Mrinalini Solanki addresses philosophical issues raised by Desai's fiction.

Human Relationships in Anita Desai's Novels (1995) by Shashi Khanna discusses themes of interpersonal relations in Desai's novels, in the context of the place of women in Indian society.