Beckett's Endgame (1957) presents a more contentious duo of men in an even bleaker setting, whereas his play Happy Days (1961) highlights his focus on female characters. Come and Go (1966) illustrates the extent of Beckett's "minimalistic" approach in his later works.

Joseph Heller's Catch-22 (1961) is a renowned dark comedy novel that explores the absurdity of military life during World War II.

Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (1966) is frequently regarded as a play that deliberately echoes Beckett's Waiting for Godot.

Eugene Ionesco's The Bald Soprano (1950), The Lesson (1951), and The Chairs (1952) exemplify the Theatre of the Absurd and offer intriguing comparisons and contrasts with Beckett's Waiting for Godot.

Jean-Paul Sartre's No Exit (1944) demonstrates how Existentialist themes can be conveyed through a more conventional dramatic structure.

Albert Camus's The Myth of Sisyphus (1942; English translation 1955) is a profoundly influential philosophical essay that raises the crucial question for Existentialists: what should humans do if they reject suicide in response to a meaningless universe? Camus's The Stranger (1942; English translation 1946) stands as a seminal Existentialist novel.