The Booker Prize winner for 2025 has just been announced, with the judges describing the winning novel, David Szalay’s Flesh, as “a very special book”. This year’s eclectic judging panel includes Sex and the City actor Sarah Jessica Parker, Booker Prize-longlisted novelist Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀, literary critic Chris Power and Booker Prize-longlisted author Kiley Reid, with Irish novelist and dramatist Roddy Doyle chairing the panel.
Unlike previous years, the six shortlisted novels are all penned by established authors, from previous winner Kiran Desai to twice-nominated Andrew Miller. The shortlist is filled out by Susan Choi, Katie Kitamura and Ben Markovits – but my personal favourite came from Szalay.
"What we particularly liked about Flesh was its singularity. It's just not like any other book," Doyle said. "It's a dark book, but we all found it a joy to read." The novel has also attracted praise from Dua Lipa, who interviewed the author last month for her book club, and Stormzy – the rapper even recorded an extract of the book that was shown at this year’s ceremony.
While all the shortlisted books promise engrossing immersion in other worlds and characters, it’s David Szalay’s novel Flesh that absorbed me most this past summer. Following a stoic man from boyhood to the end of his life, it takes the reader from Hungary to London as the protagonist transcends class, falls in and out of relationships and battles his psychological isolation. Just like the character, the writing is unemotive and sparing, but somehow leaves you emotionally bereft when you finish it.
The novel was already a favourite among literary critics but it’s sure to garner wider, more mainstream appeal following the Booker Prize win. Here’s why David Szalay’s Flesh should be at the top of your reading pile.
'Flesh' by David Szalay, published by Jonathan Cape: Was £18.99, now £14.75, Amazon.co.uk
A profound portrait of masculinity, money, sex and chance, I’m not surprised that David Szalay’s novel Flesh has taken the Booker Prize for 2025. The engrossing novel follows István from an apartment complex in Hungary to the upper echelons of London high society. We first meet the laconic protagonist when he’s 15 years old, living with his mother in a quiet town in Hungary. He’s shy and isolated and becomes embroiled in a clandestine relationship with a lonely married woman next door, which soon sends his life spiralling out of control.
Fast forward decades later, István has served in the army and is suffering from PTSD. A series of chance encounters later, and he’s living among the super-rich, but his past means that everything could come crashing down in a split second. The moving and propulsive whole-life story is sparsely written but still engaging. It’s the kind of readable yet surprisingly profound story to get anyone out of a reading rut.
Discover more of the best books of 2025, including Booker longlisted reads
