Writer David Szalay wins prestigious Booker Prize for fiction with his earthy novel ‘Flesh’

Canadian-Hungarian-British writer David Szalay has claimed the prestigious Booker Prize for his novel “Flesh,” a spare, unadorned account of one man’s journey from working-class Hungarian roots to extraordinary wealth in Britain.

The 51-year-old author received the coveted literary award at a ceremony in London’s Old Billingsgate on Monday, beating five other finalists including frontrunners Andrew Miller of Britain and Indian author Kiran Desai. The prize carries a £50,000 ($66,000) reward and typically delivers a significant boost to the winner’s sales and literary profile.

“Flesh” emerged as the unanimous choice after judges deliberated for five hours. Roddy Doyle, the Irish writer who chaired the judging panel, described Szalay’s novel as “a book about living, and the strangeness of living.”

The winning novel follows the life of taciturn protagonist István, chronicling his teenage relationship with an older woman, his struggles as an immigrant in Britain, and his unexpected ascension to London high society. What distinguishes “Flesh” is its deliberate narrative restraint – major life events, including imprisonment and military service in Iraq, occur off the page.

“He is quite an opaque character,” Szalay acknowledged at a press conference following his win. “He doesn’t explain himself to the reader. He isn’t very articulate. So I really didn’t know quite how people would respond to him as a character.”

This unconventional approach has polarized critics. While many praised the novel’s technical accomplishment, others expressed frustration with its refusal to fill narrative gaps and its emotionally restrained central character, whose most frequent utterance is simply “Okay.”

Doyle defended these artistic choices, explaining what made the novel stand out: “We loved the spareness of the writing. We loved how so much was revealed without us being overly aware that it was being revealed… If the gaps were filled, it would be less of a book.”

The judge also highlighted how “Flesh” gives voice to an often-overlooked demographic in literary fiction: working-class men. Since reading the novel, Doyle said he looks more closely at bouncers standing in doorways of Dublin pubs. “I’m kind of giving him a second look, because I feel I might know him a bit better,” he remarked.

Szalay, who was born in Montreal to a Hungarian father and Canadian mother before being raised in the UK, wrote “Flesh” under pressure after abandoning a novel he had been working on for four years. He now lives in Vienna and was previously shortlisted for the Booker in 2016 for “All That Man Is,” a collection of stories featuring nine disparate male characters.

Accepting his trophy, Szalay thanked the judges for recognizing his “risky” novel. He recalled asking his editor “whether she could imagine a novel called ‘Flesh’ winning the Booker Prize.” With a smile, he concluded: “You have your answer.”

The Booker Prize, established in 1969 and open to English-language novels worldwide, has a storied history of career transformation for its recipients. Past winners include literary luminaries such as Salman Rushdie, Ian McEwan, Arundhati Roy, and Margaret Atwood. Last year’s winner, Samantha Harvey, took the prize for her space station narrative “Orbital.”

The selection process narrowed 153 submitted novels to a shortlist of six, with the final decision made by a judging panel that included Doyle and “Sex and the City” star Sarah Jessica Parker.

When asked about his plans for the prize money, Szalay modestly suggested “going on a nice little holiday with a bit of it and put the rest in the bank.” Harvey, who presented Szalay with the trophy, offered pragmatic advice to the new winner: “Buckle up, and get a good accountant.”