British-Hungarian writer David Szalay wins Booker Prize for novel 'Flesh'

Hungarian British author David Szalay was named the winner of the Booker Prize 2025 for his novel ‘Flesh’, beating Kiran Desai’s ‘The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny’ at a ceremony in London on Monday night. Szalay, 51, was presented with 50,000 pounds and a trophy by last year’s Booker winner Samantha Harvey for his novel about an emotionally detached man who is unravelled by a series of events beyond his grasp. “Using only the sparest of prose, this hypnotically tense and compelling book becomes an astonishingly moving portrait of a man’s life,” the Booker Prize judges said of their winning choice.

BOOKER PRIZE 2025 WINNER ANNOUNCED! @TheBookerPrizes

“Flesh” by David Szalay has been awarded the prestigious Booker Prize 2025.

A masterful exploration of humanity, vulnerability, and connection — Flesh stands as a powerful reflection on the complexities of modern... pic.twitter.com/zEs7luxUZs

— David Kamau (@Davikamaunjambi) November 10, 2025

He was chosen from 153 submitted novels by a judging panel that included Irish writer Roddy Doyle and “Sex and the City” star Sarah Jessica Parker. Doyle said “Flesh” — a book “about living, and the strangeness of living” — emerged as the judges’ unanimous choice after a five-hour meeting. Szalay’s book recounts the life of taciturn Istvn, from a teenage relationship with an older woman through time as a struggling immigrant in Britain to denizen of London high society. The author has said he wanted to write about a Hungarian immigrant, and “about life as a physical experience, about what it’s like to be a living body in the world.”

Accepting his trophy at London's Old Billingsgate — a former fish market turned glitzy events venue — Szalay thanked the judges for rewarding his “risky” novel. He recalled asking his editor “whether she could imagine a novel called ‘Flesh’ winning the Booker Prize.” "You have your answer," he said.