In most of his 130 titles of fiction, Bandopadhyay dealt with the social transition of his time with immense sympathy for the poor and the deprived. He was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1955 for the novel Arogya Niketan and the Rabindra Memorial Prize in 1956 for Gana Debata. In 1966, he received the Jnanpith. He was also felicitated with the Padma Shri and the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India for his service to literature.