In a bold celebration of literary excellence, David Szalay has been crowned the 2025 Booker Prize winner for his novel FLESH, a work that judges hailed as 'extraordinary.' But here's where it gets controversial: can a novel that delves into the complexities of human desire, power, and isolation truly resonate with every reader? Let’s dive in.
The Booker Prize, one of the most prestigious literary awards in the English-speaking world, has long been a beacon for outstanding fiction. Awarded annually to 'the best sustained work of fiction written in English and published in the U.K. or Ireland,' it has celebrated literary brilliance for over fifty years. This year, Szalay’s FLESH, published by Penguin Random House UK (Jonathan Cape) and Penguin Random House Canada (McClelland & Stewart), emerged victorious. As the winner, Szalay receives £50,000, while each of the six shortlisted authors takes home £2,500. The 2025 judging panel, a stellar lineup including 1993 Booker Prize winner Roddy Doyle, novelist Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀, actor and publisher Sarah Jessica Parker, critic Chris Power, and author Kiley Reid, announced the winner with unanimous acclaim.
Roddy Doyle praised FLESH as a novel unlike anything he and his fellow judges had ever read. 'The writing is spare, and that is its great strength,' he noted. 'Every word matters; the spaces between the words matter. The book is about living, the strangeness of living, and as we read, we’re reminded of the beauty of being alive and experiencing this extraordinary, singular work.' And this is the part most people miss: the novel’s minimalist prose forces readers to engage deeply, making every sentence a revelation.
Szalay is no stranger to literary acclaim. With six acclaimed works of fiction translated into over twenty languages and several BBC radio dramas under his belt, he has established himself as a master storyteller. His debut, LONDON AND THE SOUTH-EAST, earned him both the Betty Trask and Geoffrey Faber Memorial prizes. His 2016 novel, ALL THAT MAN IS, won the Gordon Burn and Plimpton prizes and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize that same year. Named one of Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists in 2013 and among The Telegraph’s top 20 British writers under 40, Szalay’s latest triumph with FLESH solidifies his place among the greats of modern literature.
But what makes FLESH so compelling? The novel follows István, a fifteen-year-old boy living in a quiet Hungarian apartment complex with his mother. Shy and new to town, István struggles to fit in at school, finding solace only in a clandestine relationship with a married neighbor—a woman close to his mother’s age. As the years pass, István’s life takes a dramatic turn as he ascends the ladder of wealth and power in 21st-century London, navigating the complexities of love, intimacy, status, and greed. Yet, his success comes at a cost, threatening to unravel him completely. FLESH is a propulsive, hypnotic exploration of what drives a life—what makes it worth living, and what breaks it.
Is István’s journey a cautionary tale about the perils of ambition, or a celebration of the human spirit’s resilience? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments. For a deeper dive into Szalay’s mind, check out his interview on the Booker Prizes website here.
Posted: November 12, 2025
