diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index a7ea912..5c5a27d 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 ## [Unreleased]
 
 ### Added
+- [#182](https://github.com/deviceinsight/kafkactl/issues/182) Make isolationLevel configurable and change default to 'readCommitted'
 - [#184](https://github.com/deviceinsight/kafkactl/pull/184) Added option to show default configs when describing topics
 - [#183](https://github.com/deviceinsight/kafkactl/issues/183) Add command `delete records` to delete records from topic
 
diff --git a/README.adoc b/README.adoc
index 66409d9..c46f065 100644
--- a/README.adoc
+++ b/README.adoc
@@ -159,6 +159,10 @@ contexts:
       # optional: maximum permitted size of a message (defaults to 1000000)
       maxMessageBytes: 1000000
 
+    consumer:
+      # optional: isolationLevel (defaults to ReadCommitted)
+      isolationLevel: ReadUncommitted
+
 current-context: default
 ----
 
diff --git a/cmd/consume/consume.go b/cmd/consume/consume.go
index 846a79e..c2bd9a1 100644
--- a/cmd/consume/consume.go
+++ b/cmd/consume/consume.go
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ func NewConsumeCmd() *cobra.Command {
 	cmdConsume.Flags().StringSliceVarP(&flags.ProtosetFiles, "protoset-file", "", flags.ProtosetFiles, "additional compiled protobuf description file for searching message description")
 	cmdConsume.Flags().StringVarP(&flags.KeyProtoType, "key-proto-type", "", flags.KeyProtoType, "key protobuf message type")
 	cmdConsume.Flags().StringVarP(&flags.ValueProtoType, "value-proto-type", "", flags.ValueProtoType, "value protobuf message type")
+	cmdConsume.Flags().StringVarP(&flags.IsolationLevel, "isolation-level", "i", "", "isolationLevel to use. One of: ReadUncommitted|ReadCommitted")
 
 	if err := cmdConsume.RegisterFlagCompletionFunc("group", func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string, toComplete string) ([]string, cobra.ShellCompDirective) {
 		return consumergroups.CompleteConsumerGroups(cmd, args, toComplete)
diff --git a/internal/common-operation.go b/internal/common-operation.go
index 56c0ac4..8d8c929 100644
--- a/internal/common-operation.go
+++ b/internal/common-operation.go
@@ -50,6 +50,10 @@ type K8sConfig struct {
 	ImagePullSecret string
 }
 
+type ConsumerConfig struct {
+	IsolationLevel string
+}
+
 type ProducerConfig struct {
 	Partitioner     string
 	RequiredAcks    string
@@ -69,6 +73,7 @@ type ClientContext struct {
 	AvroJSONCodec      avro.JSONCodec
 	Protobuf           protobuf.SearchContext
 	Producer           ProducerConfig
+	Consumer           ConsumerConfig
 }
 
 type Config struct {
@@ -115,6 +120,7 @@ func CreateClientContext() (ClientContext, error) {
 	context.Producer.Partitioner = viper.GetString("contexts." + context.Name + ".producer.partitioner")
 	context.Producer.RequiredAcks = viper.GetString("contexts." + context.Name + ".producer.requiredAcks")
 	context.Producer.MaxMessageBytes = viper.GetInt("contexts." + context.Name + ".producer.maxMessageBytes")
+	context.Consumer.IsolationLevel = viper.GetString("contexts." + context.Name + ".consumer.isolationLevel")
 	context.Sasl.Enabled = viper.GetBool("contexts." + context.Name + ".sasl.enabled")
 	context.Sasl.Username = viper.GetString("contexts." + context.Name + ".sasl.username")
 	context.Sasl.Password = viper.GetString("contexts." + context.Name + ".sasl.password")
diff --git a/internal/consume/consume-operation.go b/internal/consume/consume-operation.go
index 5b282f9..239a1f6 100644
--- a/internal/consume/consume-operation.go
+++ b/internal/consume/consume-operation.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package consume
 import (
 	"context"
 	"sort"
+	"strings"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/deviceinsight/kafkactl/internal/helpers"
@@ -39,6 +40,7 @@ type Flags struct {
 	ProtosetFiles    []string
 	KeyProtoType     string
 	ValueProtoType   string
+	IsolationLevel   string
 }
 
 type ConsumedMessage struct {
@@ -65,7 +67,16 @@ func (operation *Operation) Consume(topic string, flags Flags) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	if client, err = internal.CreateClient(&clientContext); err != nil {
+	config, err := internal.CreateClientConfig(&clientContext)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	if err = applyConsumerConfigs(config, clientContext, flags); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	if client, err = sarama.NewClient(clientContext.Brokers, config); err != nil {
 		return errors.Wrap(err, "failed to create client")
 	}
 
@@ -166,6 +177,37 @@ func (operation *Operation) Consume(topic string, flags Flags) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+func applyConsumerConfigs(config *sarama.Config, clientContext internal.ClientContext, flags Flags) error {
+
+	var err error
+
+	isolationLevel := clientContext.Consumer.IsolationLevel
+	if flags.IsolationLevel != "" {
+		isolationLevel = flags.IsolationLevel
+	}
+
+	if config.Consumer.IsolationLevel, err = parseIsolationLevel(isolationLevel); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	output.Debugf("using isolationLevel=%v", config.Consumer.IsolationLevel)
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+func parseIsolationLevel(isolationLevel string) (sarama.IsolationLevel, error) {
+	switch strings.ToLower(isolationLevel) {
+	case "":
+		return sarama.ReadCommitted, nil
+	case "readcommitted":
+		return sarama.ReadCommitted, nil
+	case "readuncommitted":
+		return sarama.ReadUncommitted, nil
+	default:
+		return sarama.ReadCommitted, errors.Errorf("isolationLevel=%s not supported", isolationLevel)
+	}
+}
+
 func deserializeMessages(ctx context.Context, flags Flags, messages <-chan *sarama.ConsumerMessage, stopConsumers chan<- bool, deserializers MessageDeserializerChain) *errgroup.Group {
 
 	errorGroup, _ := errgroup.WithContext(ctx)