David Szalay Wins the 2025 Booker Prize for Flesh: A Landmark for Hungarian-British Literature

In a landmark literary moment, David Szalay, the Hungarian-British author known for his piercing explorations of modern existence, has won the 2025 Booker Prize for his sixth novel, Flesh. The announcement was made at a glittering ceremony at Old Billingsgate in London, where Szalay received the prestigious £50,000 prize and the Booker trophy from last year’s winner, Samantha Harvey.

The judges hailed Flesh as “a hypnotically tense and compelling novel that becomes an astonishingly moving portrait of a man’s life.” With this win, Szalay becomes the first author of Hungarian heritage to clinch the coveted prize.

About the Author: David Szalay’s Global Journey

David Szalay’s life mirrors the cosmopolitan nature of his fiction.

• Born: Canada
• Raised: London, United Kingdom
• Currently resides: Vienna, Austria

This transnational background deeply informs his storytelling, often touching on themes of identity, displacement, globalization, and belonging.

Szalay’s literary career began with London and the South-East, which won both the Betty Trask Award and the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize. His 2016 work, All That Man Is, earned him his first Booker shortlisting and the Gordon Burn Prize. He was also included in Granta’s “Best of Young British Novelists” (2013) list, cementing his reputation as one of Britain’s leading literary talents.

The Winning Novel: Flesh

Plot Overview

Flesh begins with the story of István, a 15-year-old boy growing up in a modest Hungarian housing estate. His life takes a sharp turn after a secret, unsettling relationship with an older, married neighbor — a connection that shapes the trajectory of his adult life.

As the narrative spans decades, István’s journey takes him from military life to the heart of London’s elite society. Along the way, he grapples with power, wealth, intimacy, and moral decay.

Szalay’s sparse, hypnotic prose captures the tension between human desire and detachment, asking profound questions about what truly drives a life and what ultimately destroys it.

Themes and Literary Style

Key Themes

• Desire and Self-Destruction: The novel explores how unchecked desires can erode one’s moral and emotional foundations.
• Loneliness and Modern Alienation: Through István’s experiences, Szalay dissects the isolation of contemporary urban life.
• Power and Class: A deep critique of social mobility, privilege, and the invisible costs of ambition.
• Identity and Belonging: The protagonist’s Hungarian roots and Western journey mirror global struggles for personal and cultural identity.

Style and Tone

• Written in minimalist, precise prose that heightens emotional intensity.
• A blend of psychological realism and social observation.

The tone oscillates between dark introspection and philosophical detachment, drawing comparisons to the works of Albert Camus and Ian McEwan.

Critical Reception and Judges’ Remarks

The 2025 Booker Prize judges, chaired by Irish novelist Roddy Doyle, praised Flesh for its originality and narrative control.

• “What we particularly liked about Flesh was its singularity. It’s just not like any other book. It’s a dark book, but we all found it a joy to read,” said Doyle.

Other shortlisted works included,

• The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai
• Flashlight by Susan Choi
• Audition by Katie Kitamura
• The Rest of Our Lives by Ben Markovits
• The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller

Each shortlisted author received £2,500 and a specially bound edition of their book.

Kiran Desai: A Close Contender

Kiran Desai, who previously won the Booker Prize in 2006 for The Inheritance of Loss, narrowly missed a historic second win with her novel The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny.

Desai’s work was described as,

“An intimate and expansive epic about two people finding a pathway to love and each other… Rich in meditations about class, race, and nationhood.”

Her 667-page novel reflects a global love story that bridges India and America, tradition and modernity — highlighting the complexities of relationships in the 21st century.

A Defining Moment in Szalay’s Career

For Szalay, Flesh marks both a personal and artistic triumph. During his acceptance speech, he revealed that the project began after abandoning another manuscript that no longer resonated with him. He described Flesh as “a risky and deeply personal work,” given its raw content and provocative title.

With this win, Szalay’s readership is set to expand globally, and Flesh is already being hailed as a modern classic — a mirror to the disquieting moral landscapes of our time.