Kureishi was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2008 New Year Honours for services to Literature and Drama.[28][29] In the same year, The Times included Kureishi in its list of the 50 greatest British writers since 1945.[30]
He has also won a number of literary awards, including:
- 1980 Thames Television Playwright Award, The Mother Country
- 1981 George Devine Award, Outskirts
- 1986 New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Screenplay for My Beautiful Laundrette
- 1986 Academy Award nomination for Best Screenplay for My Beautiful Laundrette
- 1990 Whitbread First Novel Award, The Buddha of Suburbia
- 2007 National Short Story Competition, shortlist for "Weddings and Beheadings"
- 2010 PEN/Pinter Prize
- 2013 Outstanding Achievement in the Arts at The Asian Awards[31]
