Funny. I have the opposite view, whilst I enjoy some American novelists - Auster, Tartt, Easton Ellis - British novelists have consistently produced work of the highest calibre.

The Russians? They had a good spell in the nineteenth century but after that? Not much on the ground.

Current French novelists of merit? Can't think of anyone beyond Houellebecq.

I note the exclusion of the Bronte sisters and Austen amongst the classics. Iris Murdoch is a great in my book, as is Tolkien despite the barbs. Surely Orwell and Waugh deserve mentions? Golding for sure and Conrad definitely. Fowles? Greene? Spark?

Current authors who may well be considered "greats" in the future:

McEwen, Ishiguro, Boyd, Mitchell, Barnes, Zadie Smith, Lanchester, Ali Smith