David Szalay Wins 2025 Booker Prize with 'Flesh': A Masterful Portrait of an Ordinary Life

Hungarian-British author David Szalay has secured the prestigious Booker Prize for his novel "Flesh," a profound exploration of one ordinary man's existence spanning several decades.

The 51-year-old writer emerged victorious among six finalists, surpassing anticipated frontrunners Andrew Miller and Kiran Desai to claim the esteemed literary accolade, which carries a substantial prize of 50,000 pounds ($66,000) and promises significant enhancement to his literary reputation and book sales.

Szalay's novel was selected from 153 submitted works by a distinguished judging panel featuring Irish author Roddy Doyle and acclaimed actress Sarah Jessica Parker of "Sex and the City" fame.

Doyle revealed that "Flesh," described as a narrative "about living, and the strangeness of living," emerged as the unanimous choice following five hours of deliberation among judges.

The winning novel chronicles the life of the reticent protagonist Istvan, beginning with his teenage relationship with an older woman, through his struggles as an immigrant in Britain, and eventually his navigation of London's high society circles. Szalay has expressed his intention to depict "a Hungarian immigrant, and about life as a physical experience, about what it's like to be a living body in the world."

Doyle, who chaired the judging panel, noted that Istvan represents an often-overlooked demographic in literature: the working-class man. He shared that since reading the novel, he finds himself looking more closely at bouncers standing outside Dublin pubs.

"I'm kind of giving him a second look, because I feel I might know him a bit better," reflected Doyle, whose own portrayal of working-class Dublin life earned him the Booker Prize in 1993 for "Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha."

"It presents us with a certain type of man that invites us to look behind the face."

Szalay, born in Canada, raised in the United Kingdom, and currently residing in Vienna, previously earned a Booker finalist position in 2016 for "All That Man Is," a collection of stories about nine vastly different men.

While "Flesh" garnered praise from many critics, others found its narrative approach challenging due to its deliberate omission of significant life events—including Istvan's imprisonment and military service in Iraq—and the protagonist's consistently unexpressive nature, frequently responding with merely "Okay."

The judging panel, however, appreciated this stylistic choice. "We loved the spareness of the writing," Doyle explained. "We loved how so much was revealed without us being overly aware that it was being revealed. Watching this man grow, age, and learning so much about him, despite him, in a way."

"If the gaps were filled, it would be less of a book," he added.

Though initially considered an underdog for this year's award, Szalay had been steadily climbing in bookmakers' predictions in the days leading up to Monday's ceremony.

Betting markets had favored British author Miller for his early-1960s domestic drama "The Land in Winter" and Indian writer Desai for her global narrative "The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny," her first novel since "The Inheritance of Loss," which claimed the Booker Prize in 2006.

Other finalists included Susan Choi's intricate family saga "Flashlight," Katie Kitamura's examination of acting and identity in "Audition," and Ben Markovits's midlife-crisis journey "The Rest of Our Lives."

Established in 1969, the Booker Prize has built a formidable reputation for transforming authors' careers. Its illustrious roster of past winners includes literary luminaries such as Salman Rushdie, Ian McEwan, Arundhati Roy, Margaret Atwood, and Samantha Harvey, who received the 2024 award for her space station narrative "Orbital."