Yes, IF you pick them at the right point. The pedicel or stem of the fruit must be curving - if its straight, they won't continue to ripen, because it's too soon. Some varieties have very short pedicels so its impossible to tell whether they've curved or not though. Keep at room temperature to aid ripening.

That's very interesting. I didn't expect such a detailed answer. My figs are Brown Turkey and have given their best crop ever this year. I've looked at the ones I have picked and they do appear to show a bit of a curve on the stem (pedicel -- what a great new word for me!) and they are all quite soft. It's the ones still on the tree that I'm hoping will ripen enough to be brought inside. Thanks Bamboo.

Ah well, depends how I'm feeling, Merlin.. some days I'm concise to the point of rudeness (I'm told) and other days I'm extremely verbose, lol. Pedicel's a great word if you play scrabble too...