What were you like in the 90s? This question is a social media trend right now, with achingly nostalgic slideshows of old photos, set to music.

When bookish types think about what we were like, we also remember the books that helped make us who we are. So the Books & Ideas team asked five literary experts for their picks.

Because we never just engage with the new, their answers range from stone-cold classics (one from the late 60s, which was all the rage in the 90s) to iconic works from the decade.

And yes, of course: we asked for a 90s photo too.

Possession by A.S. Byatt

During the 90s, I was a rock journalist in London, so reading was an antidote to my hedonistic lifestyle – and a good way to keep my intellect stimulated. Interviewing rock stars was fun but the conversations could be limited! I loved wild, feminist writers like Angela Carter and Margaret Attwood.

But a novel that really stood out for me was Possession (1990) by A.S. Byatt, which follows two academics researching the unknown relationship between a pair of fictional Victorian poets. I remember being utterly entranced by both the main storylines, and I was blown away by Byatt’s extraordinary ability to master so many narrative forms and the brilliant way in which she wove all of the strands together.

Having read Jung in my teens, I was fascinated by symbols and archetypal imagery. Possession was brimming........

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