Starman Jones is a 1953 science fiction novel by Robert Heinlein about a farm boy with an eidetic memory.

• June 1, 1953, Atheneum, library binding, ISBN 0684134675
• January 12, 1975, Ballantine Books, paperback, ISBN 0345243544
• January 12, 1978, Del Rey, paperback, ISBN 0345275950
• September 12, 1981, Del Rey, paperback, ISBN 0345301048
• June 12, 1985, Del Rey, paperback reissue edition, 256 pages, ISBN 0345328116
• October 12, 1986, Del Rey, paperback, ISBN 0345345096
• January 1, 1999, Yestermorrow Inc, hardcover, ISBN 1567231578

After his father dies and his stepmother remarries, Max Jones runs away from the family farm. Following the ring road to a hobo camp, he finds a friendly face in Sam Anderson, a former Imperial Marine. Most occupations are controlled by guilds, and many are only open to hereditary membership. One of these is the Astrogator's Guild, and his uncle had been a member. Max hopes that before he died, his uncle had nominated him for hereditary membership, since his uncle had no children. He makes his way to Earthport in the hopes of becoming a starship astrogator, hitching a ride with a friendly trucker. Once there he is disappointed to find that his uncle never nominated him, but that his uncle's astrogation books could be returned to the guild for a refund of the large deposit his uncle had made to obtain them. (The friendly trucker who gives rides to down-and-out hitchhikers is a recurring theme in Heinlein's books.)

With the money from his books, Max and Sam (who had stolen the books and tried to turn them in first!) get together and scheme to join the crew of a starship. Sam becomes a master-at-arms, and Max becomes a steward's mate third class (drawing on his hasty memorization of a borrowed book) after having his appearance aged somewhat by a cold-fingered matron in the back of a bar where beautiful young ladies serve colored water.

On board the starship, Max is assigned by accident to work he understands: cleaning up after animals on the bottom deck, including feeding passengers' pets. Eldreth Coburn, owner of a spider monkey Max had befriended, discovers that Max can play 3-D chess and challenges him to a game (she lets him win, but we don't discover that until much later). Impressed with his ability, and perhaps somewhat romantically interested in him, she arranges for him to get a promotion to the ship's control room, where under the stern tutelage of Chief Astrogator Hendricks and the warmer but equally tough training of computerman Kelly, he becomes an Assistant Astrogator.

In a confrontation with Hendricks, Max sheepishly admits to faking his record to get into space and is told off (but, to his surprise, not exposed or punished) by Hendricks. "It's worse than wrong, it's undignified!"

When the aging captain sides with assistant astrogator Simes against Max (who found an error in the programming) and the ship turns up in uncharted space, the ship must land on a nearby planet. Admittedly lost, the ship is all but decommissioned and most of the crew help the passengers colonize their lovely new planet. But watch out for the centaurs and their throwing ropes!