Top 10 novels told in a single day From James Joyce and Virginia Woolf to Nicholson Baker, the ‘circadian novel’ can pack lifetimes of experience into 24 hours Numero uno … actor Paul O’Hanrahan performs the Calypso chapter from James Joyce’s Ulysses for Bloomsday in Dublin in 2008. Photograph: deadlyphoto.com/Alamy Numero uno … actor Paul O’Hanrahan performs the Calypso chapter from James Joyce’s Ulysses for Bloomsday in Dublin in 2008. Photograph: deadlyphoto.com/Alamy JamesClammer Wed 9 Jun 2021 08.30 EDT Recently I had the good fortune to publish a novel based, in part, on the years I spent working as a plumber. After reading it, some of my new literary friends commented, “Ah, so you’re writing in the circadian tradition, then?” I nodded my head – and dived for a dictionary to discover the meaning of “circadian”. It turns out the word describes the process of going around, of returning. Books set within the confines of 24 hours. A day in the life.