David Szalay wins Booker Prize for tortured tale of masculinity

LONDON – British-Hungarian writer David Szalay won the Booker Prize on Nov 10 for his novel Flesh, a tortured story of a Hungarian emigre who makes and loses a fortune.

Szalay, 51, beat five other shortlisted authors, including Indian novelist Kiran Desai, who won in 2006, and Britain’s Andrew Miller to claim the £50,000 (S$85,700) award at a ceremony in London.

He had previously been shortlisted for the prestigious literary honour in 2016 for his last work, All That Man Is.

Flesh, his sixth novel, is another unflattering exploration of masculinity, using sparse prose to track the protagonist from military service in his home country to working for the ultra-wealthy in London. His tormented life includes affairs with older women and fighting in Iraq.

The five judges considered 135 books to crown one the best work of long-form fiction written in English and published in Britain or Ireland between Oct 1, 2024 and Sept 30, 2025.

Among the six shortlisted works, one kept dominating the conversation, said the judges’ chair Roddy Doyle, who called Flesh a “singular” and “extraordinary” novel.

“We had never read anything quite like it. It is, in many ways, a dark book, but it is a joy to read,” said Doyle, an Irish writer and winner of the 1993 Booker Prize.

The judging panel included American actress Sarah Jessica Parker, alongside authors Ayobami Adebayo and Kiley Reid, as well as critic-writer Chris Power.

In an interview with the Booker Prize organisation after his novel was longlisted, Szalay said he knew he wanted to write a book that began with Hungary, ended with England and that explored “the cultural and economic divides that characterise” contemporary Europe.

“Writing about a Hungarian immigrant at the time when Hungary joined the European Union seemed like an obvious way to go,” said the author, who was born in Montreal, Canada, grew up in London and now lives in Vienna.

Szalay triumphed over favourites Desai and Miller.

Desai was shortlisted for The Loneliness Of Sonia And Sunny, a nearly 700-page novel and her first work since winning the Booker in 2006 for The Inheritance Of Loss.

Miller, who had also previously been shortlisted for the award, was considered for The Land In Winter.

The other shortlisted novels in 2025 were Susan Choi’s Flashlight, Katie Kitamura’s Audition and Ben Markovits’ The Rest Of Our Lives.

The 2024 prize was won by British writer Samantha Harvey for her short novel, Orbital, following six astronauts as they contemplate Earth from the International Space Station. Harvey presented the 2025 Booker Prize to Szalay. AFP