After leaving Oxford she worked as a buyer for an independent chain of record stores based in Exeter, and then as a bookseller in London.

Allan's story Darkroom appeared in Subtle Edens: An Anthology of Slipstream Fiction edited by Allen Ashley Elastic Press in 2008.

[2] In a review of the collection Andy Hedgecock wrote that Nina Allan is developing into "one of the finest stylists of modern genre fiction."

Sofia Samatar however in her review questioned whether or not there is a danger in Allan's experiment of the emotional force being, "more likely to be lost than gained in the leaps between parallel realities.

"[7] In Stuart Conover's 2017 review of The Rift he stated "There are a lot of fun concepts here and a fully crafted alien world which could easily have a completely separate tale told in.

"[8] In Ian Sansom's review of Conquest he wrote "Nina Allan belongs to that small set of writers whom you probably haven’t heard of, but who is really famous among certain readers and also really good.