In 1985, his debut novel Satantango achieved success, and he was immediately thrust into the forefront of Hungarian literary life.

He drew upon his experiences in Mongolia and China in writing The Prisoner of Urga and Destruction and Sorrow Beneath the Heavens.

His contact with the aesthetics and literary theory of the Far East resulted in significant changes in his writing style and deployed themes.

[11] He returns often to both Germany and Hungary, but he has also spent varying lengths of time in several other countries, including the United States, Spain, Greece, and Japan,[12] providing inspiration for his novel Seiobo There Below, which won the Best Translated Book Award in 2014.

[13] Beginning in 1985, the director and the author's friend Béla Tarr made films almost exclusively based on Krasznahorkai's works, including Sátántangó and Werckmeister Harmonies.

[14] Krasznahorkai has also collaborated closely with the artist Max Neumann, including on the illustrated novella Chasing Homer (2021), which is accompanied by an original percussive score from the jazz musician Szilveszter Miklós.

[7] W. G. Sebald remarked, "The universality of Krasznahorkai's vision rivals that of Gogol's Dead Souls and far surpasses all the lesser concerns of contemporary writing.