Gordimer writes in a controlled, unsentimental style that contrasts with her subject matter: the effect of apartheid on the lives of South Africans and the frustrations of life in a racially-divided country. With a skilful use of small details, she describes the daily lives of South Africans, black, white and coloured, as they go about their affairs in a flawed and artificial society. Feelings of exile and alienation pervade her novels and short-story collections, such as The Soft Voice of the Serpent (1956) and Not For Publication (1960).

With The Conservationist (1974), which describes a white man's exploitation of his black employees, Gordimer shared the 1974 Booker Prize. In Burger's Daughter (1979), a white woman tries to come to terms with her feelings when her Communist father is imprisoned for opposing the system. Other notable works include July's People (1981), A Sport of Nature (1987) and My Son's Story (1990). Her most recent novel, The House Gun (1998) is set in contemporary, post-apartheid South Africa, and describes the emotional confusion of a couple whose son is accused of murder.