British writer M. John Harrison wins Booker for apocalypse novel

LONDON – British author M. John Harrison won the Booker Prize on Nov 9 for his enigmatic novel The End Of Everything, which echoes concerns about artificial intelligence in a darkly satirical depiction of post-apocalyptic Britain.

Harrison, 81, became the oldest winner of the award, which comes with a £50,000 (S$86,000) prize and a boost in sales and profile.

Though a veteran of the British science fiction literary scene, this was Harrison’s first time being shortlisted for the coveted prize, which critics say is long overdue.

He beat shortlisted authors Marlon James, Douglas Stuart, Elizabeth Strout, Luke Kennard and Rebecca Perry, whose entries ranged from a queer epic in 1980s Kingston to a campus satire set in modern-day London.

The End Of Everything came out “ahead in terms of both its extraordinary expert writing, but also huge ambition”, Mary Beard, chair of the judges, told a press conference.

Harrison’s 13th novel follows beachcomber Phillip Tennent and his dementia-stricken, free-spirited aunt Marnie, set in the near future on the windswept English coast invaded by mysterious objects known as the iGhetti.

An unnamed catastrophe plunges the characters into a murky post-apocalyptic world where the European continent seems to have disappeared and the arrival of the iGhetti, which can imitate humans, evokes interactions with AI.

“One main point of the book is that if, or when, such an apocalypse comes, it will be incomprehensible,” Beard said in a statement, adding that the book spoke to the present “moment”.

“This is the politics of now seen through the lens of the future.”

In dream-like episodes, this tight, 198-page novel alludes to Brexit, the Covid-19 pandemic and the invasion of technology into daily life.

As is often the case with Harrison’s writing, which has been described as genre-bending and singular, the plot counts less than the atmosphere, and the author’s elliptical and poetic style heightens the feeling of gradual collapse.

AI concerns

“Current affairs provided the themes and the satire,” Harrison said of his book.

“What happens when all of our expectations and explanations of the world become an ongoing disaster, but we still have to make a life?”

The author previously said he was inspired by the 2008 financial crisis and wanted to write a novel about the “failure of explanation in society”.

Born in Rugby, England, in 1945, Harrison is the author of numerous science fiction books, including the Viriconium saga (1971 to 1984) and Light (2002), the first volume of a trilogy known as The Kefahuchi Tract, renowned as major works of the genre.

Though little known to the public beyond sci-fi enthusiasts, when he was shortlisted, The Telegraph newspaper wrote: “Finally, he’s getting his due.”

The theme of AI has been on the judges’ minds through the year-long selection process, which saw them whittle down 163 entries to a shortlist of six novels.

Beard pointed out that concerns surrounding AI were “pretty high on this book”.

“Phillip has got this object, this artefact, and it’s not clear how sentient it is. It’s not clear what it is,” Beard said in a press conference to announce the winner.

In an earlier interview with AFP, Beard said the judging panel would have to think about the role of AI in publishing and writing in the coming years.

“I think for the future, it’s inevitable that that will be on the agenda. You can’t bury your head in the sand about that,” she said.

Other judges have talked about wanting to create a shortlist of books that are distinctly human and cannot be replicated by AI.

The prize, which celebrates the best work of long-form fiction by writers of any nationality, written in English and published in the past year, was awarded on Nov 9 at a London ceremony.

In 2025, British-Hungarian author David Szalay won the prize for Flesh, his tortured tale of a Hungarian emigre in London. AFP