1.Winner: Flesh by David Szalay.
- Date & place of announcement: Awarded at a ceremony in London on Monday, 10 November 2025
- Prize: £50,000 and the Booker trophy (presented by Samantha Harvey, the 2024 winner)
- Publishing/time eligibility: Prize covers long-form fiction in English published in the UK and/or Ireland between 1 Oct 2024 – 30 Sep 2025. (Used by the 2025 judges.
- About Flesh — form, content and themes (pointwise)
- Form & style: Written in spare, minimalist prose; notable for restraint and precise language.
- Narrative scope: Spans decades and settings — from a Hungarian housing estate to the mansions of Britain’s elite — following one central, emotionally detached man.
- Central character: A working-class Hungarian (named István in some coverage) whose life is shown through events that unravel him; the book foregrounds physical experience and emotional passivity.
- Major themes: Masculinity, class mobility, migration, trauma, alienation, power and the moral ambiguity of ascent into wealth.
- Author background & literary context
- David Szalay: Hungarian-British author, aged 51 at time of award; Flesh is his sixth work of fiction.
- Previous Booker recognition: Szalay was previously shortlisted in 2016 (All That Man Is).
- Significance of the win (why it matters for literature/policy exams)
- Literary culture: The Booker Prize influences UK and global literary attention — winners often shape publishing trends and critical debates about style, form and topicality.
- Cultural diplomacy & identity: A Hungarian-British winner highlights transnational literary identities and migration of voices in contemporary Anglophone fiction.
- Prize governance: Roddy Doyle’s role as the first former Booker winner to chair signals institutional continuity and raises questions about diversity of judging perspectives.
- Exam-oriented bullet points (memorise for prelims and use in mains)
- Flesh — Winner, Booker Prize 2025 (10 Nov 2025).
- Prize money: £50,000; trophy presented by 2024 winner Samantha Harvey.
- Chair of judges: Roddy Doyle (first ex-winner to chair).
- Judges included: Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀, Sarah Jessica Parker, Chris Power, Kiley Reid.
- Themes: Migration, class, masculinity, alienation; minimalist prose.
