David Szalay 'Flesh' Wins Booker Prize 2025

Hungarian-British author David Szalay has been awarded the prestigious Booker Prize for his sixth novel, 'Flesh'.

The announcement came at a ceremony in London on Monday, 10 November 2025, where the manuscript was chosen unanimously by the judging panel for its bold vision and muscular restraint. 

Flesh tells the gripping, unconventional story of István, a Hungarian man whose life arcs from adolescence in public housing to military service overseas, then ultimately to membership—however uneasy—in London’s elite circles. The novel’s narrative is characterised by lean, taut prose; the author’s minimalist style refrains from spelling out everything, allowing blank spaces to resonate with what is unsaid. 

Judges praised the novel’s ability to portray the “strangeness of living” and the physical, emotional terrain of a life lived in passages. Chair of the panel, Roddy Doyle, remarked on the novel’s spareness and how much is revealed without being overtly revealed.  

Szalay himself acknowledged that the book felt “risky” — especially given its title and the austere mode in which it’s written — and he admitted to wondering whether a novel called Flesh could ever win the Booker.

The award brings a £50,000 prize to Szalay, along with heightened international attention that frequently accompanies Booker winners. For Szalay, who was previously shortlisted in 2016 for his collection All That Man Is, the win represents a landmark in a career defined by a focus on masculinity, alienation and the unsaid. 

The significance of this win extends beyond one author: Flesh asserts the potency of pared-down narrative, physical immediacy and emotional absence as literary tools. In an era when many novels favour dense inner monologue and sprawling structure, Szalay’s work counters with a novel that invites readers to fill its silences—and thereby become active participants in the text.

Readers and critics alike have noted the impact of Flesh: by tracing the trajectory of an individual often overlooked in literature—working class, immigrant, taciturn—the novel turns ordinary life into terrain worthy of reflection. The win may mark a shift in what literary prizes prize: not just novelty or scope, but precision of vision and depth of experience.

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