Although Franz Kafka never suffered actual physical banishment, the present study approaches the interpretation of his three major novels from the point of view of a literary exile. In so doing it breaks new ground in the research done on Kafka so far. The novels are read with a view to verifying the theory of a potential 'exul poeta ideology' on Kafka's part and demonstrating that in the lineage of Ovid he draws upon the exile topos as a way of making sense of his 'existence as a writer', inscribing its genesis into his trilogy of novels. Seen thus, the novels can indeed be classified as literature of exile.