LEWIS Carroll would be turning in his grave if he knew Alice's Adventures in Wonderland tops the list of books most people claim to have read – but haven't.

The classic children's novel, inspired by Carroll's experiences in Oxford, was followed closely in a BBC poll by George Orwell's 1984 and The Lord of the Rings.

Sophie Hiscock, communications manager for the Story Museum, admitted she had not read the novel before working at the Pembroke Street museum which organises the annual festival, Alice's Day, in the city centre.

She said: "I have to confess I’d never read Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland before I came to work at the Story Museum.

"I always felt as though I’d read it because I knew about all the characters and could quote extracts from the text like ‘Off with your head!’ and ‘curiouser and curiouser’.

"When I did finally get round to reading it, at the age of 43, I was amazed at how genuinely funny it is and how fantastic the word play is.

"I’d highly recommend anyone to take it off their guilt-list and move it on to the ‘have read’ list as it’s one of those books that makes a great read whatever your age."

The BBC poll also highlighted that one in four adults say they have read a classic when there is a TV adaptation.

The most popular reasons are not wanting to miss out on the conversation and wanting to seem more intelligent.