In a defining moment for global literature, David Szalay has won the Booker Prize 2025 for his haunting and powerful novel Flesh, becoming the first Hungarian-British writer to receive the award. Announced at a ceremony in London on 10 November 2025, the win has positioned Flesh as one of the most influential works of the decade.
Chosen from 153 submissions, the novel was unanimously praised for its minimalist prose, psychological depth, and stark portrayal of desire, loneliness, and moral collapse. The recognition reinforces Szalay’s place among the leading literary voices of the 21st century.
Key Takeaways: Booker Prize 2025 – David Szalay’s Historic Win
- Flesh by David Szalay named winner of the Booker Prize 2025 at Old Billingsgate, London.
- Szalay receives £50,000, a trophy, and becomes the first Hungarian-British author to win.
- The judging panel was chaired by Roddy Doyle, the first former Booker winner to lead a jury.
- The novel follows István, whose traumatic adolescence shapes a life driven by coincidences, power, intimacy, and emotional detachment.
- Flesh is praised for its minimalist prose, deep psychological insight, and exploration of desire, isolation, class, and identity.
- The shortlist included works by Kiran Desai, Susan Choi, Katie Kitamura, Ben Markovits, and Andrew Miller.
A Prize That Redefined the Year: Why Flesh Rose Above All
The Booker Prize 2025 jury called Flesh “a hypnotically tense and astonishingly moving portrait of a man’s life.” Chair Roddy Doyle remarked, “Flesh is like no other novel. Dark, tense, and unforgettable, yet a joy to read.”
Unlike the experimental narrative style of Hungarian Nobel laureate László Karsznahorkai, whose complex structures echo myth and folklore, Szalay’s novel uses a linear, realist mode, mirroring the classic form of 19th-century fiction. The book follows a straight path i.e. beginning, middle, and end yet delivers an emotional punch through its stark exploration of human desire and alienation.
From Hungarian Housing Estates to London’s Elite: The Story of Flesh
Flesh begins in the Communist 1980s in Hungary, where fifteen-year-old István lives with his mother. Isolated and unfamiliar with school social dynamics, his only companionship is a married woman in the neighborhood. Their growing closeness turns into a clandestine relationship marked by hesitation, consent, and emotional confusion.
When the woman abruptly ends the relationship, István spirals into anger. In a chance encounter, he pushes her husband down the stairs, resulting in the man’s death, an act that leads to István being charged with murder and sent to a borstal school.
After his release, he joins the army and is sent to Iraq, later drifting through relationships marked by fleeting intimacy and emotional distance. Eventually, István moves to London, where another coincidence introduces him to Mervyn, who becomes the link to the wealthy industrialist Karl Nyman. István becomes Nyman’s chauffeur, later forming a relationship with Nyman’s wife, Helen.
A Life Shaped by Coincidence, Desire, and Emotional Distance
István and Helen marry after Nyman’s death, and they eventually have a child. Yet their relationship becomes sparse, dominated by family responsibilities more than passion. István begins expanding property investments through a trust fund belonging to Helen’s son, Thomas, though not through any calculated manipulation. The story traces how István’s rise in wealth is driven less by ambition and more by circumstance.
In another tragic parallel to his youth, István fatally wounds Thomas in a heated confrontation, another act born not from intent but coincidence. Soon after, his wife and son die in a sudden accident, deepening his emotional detachment. He returns to Hungary, living with his mother once more, where occasional encounters with intimacy continue, but nothing breaks through his cold, melancholic solitude.
One of the most striking themes is solitariness as an awareness of the body, a motif that also appeared in several other novels shortlisted for the prize. Szalay uses this emotional distance to portray a man disconnected from desire, longing, and even his own trauma. Throughout the novel, the word okay emerges repeatedly each time carrying an undertone of resignation, numbness, or emotional tiredness.
Themes That Resonated with Judges and Readers Alike
1. Desire and Self-Destruction
The novel reveals how unchecked impulses, sometimes unconscious, can corrode a person’s emotional and moral foundation.
2. Loneliness in a Modern World
Szalay portrays the weight of solitude in an age where ambition and wealth often deepen isolation instead of curing it.
3. Power, Class, and Privilege
The book exposes the hidden tensions in social mobility, especially when ordinary individuals collide with elite worlds they never imagined joining.
4. Identity and Displacement
István’s journey across continents mirrors universal struggles of belonging in a globalized, emotionally complex century.
Who Is David Szalay? A Life Behind the Pages
Born in Canada, raised in London, and living today in Vienna, Szalay’s multinational background shapes his sensitivity toward themes like identity, loneliness, mobility, and globalization. His achievements include:
- Geoffrey Faber Prize
- Betty Trask Award
- Gordon Burn Prize nomination
- Booker Prize shortlist (2016) for All That Man Is
- Featured in Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists (2013)
Winning the Booker Prize 2025 has cemented his status as one of the most influential literary figures of his generation.
Booker Prize 2025 Shortlist: A Competitive Year
The shortlist featured five exceptional novels:
1. Kiran Desai – The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny
2. Susan Choi – Flashlight
3. Katie Kitamura – Audition
4. Ben Markovits – The Rest of Our Lives
5. Andrew Miller – The Land in Winter
Each shortlisted writer received £2,500 and a specially bound edition of their novel.
Kiran Desai, who won the Booker in 2006, was considered a close contender. Her novel was praised as “An intimate yet expansive epic about love, identity, class, and nationhood.”
A Defining Moment for Contemporary Global Literature
David Szalay’s acceptance speech described Flesh as “risky and deeply personal,” noting that he wrote it after abandoning a project that no longer felt relevant. The novel is expected to become a global bestseller, with film or streaming adaptations anticipated by industry observers. It also amplifies Central European voices in international literature, at a time when Hungary proudly celebrates both the Booker Prize and the Nobel Prize won by László Karsznahorkai this year.
Also Read: Warriors vs Nuggets: Stephen Curry’s Absence Turns NBA Cup Clash Into High-Stakes Battle
With its profound themes, minimalist style, and unforgettable protagonist, Flesh is already being hailed as a modern classic , a novel that does not merely tell a story but confronts the moral restlessness of our time.
Spiritual Insight: The Eternal Path Revealed Through the Complete Scriptures
Just as literature guides society, the sacred scriptures of every religion act as the highest form of divine literature that shows humanity the true path of liberation. Whether it is the Vedas and the Bhagavad Gita in Hinduism, the Quran Sharif in Islam, the Bible in Christianity, or the Guru Granth Sahib in Sikhism each scripture offers valuable wisdom. However, true deliverance comes only by following the exact spiritual practice written within these very scriptures.
Tatvdarshi Sant Rampal Ji Maharaj is the only Saint in the present time who has revealed the hidden and unified spiritual knowledge present in the scriptures of all religions. He has clearly explained, through evidence from these texts, that the Complete God is Kabir Sahib, and only by following His ordained method of worship can a soul attain true peace and complete liberation.
Except for the rare Saints who were blessed directly by God in history, and Chyren/Saint Rampal Ji Maharaj Ji in the present era, no other guru, preacher, or religious authority possesses this complete, scripture-aligned knowledge. Those who follow incomplete or self-made practices cannot attain real happiness or salvation. Every seeker should listen to the spiritual discourses of Tatvdarshi/Chyren Saint Rampal Ji Maharaj Ji to understand the true purpose of human life.
For more authentic spiritual knowledge, Read the book Way of Living by Saint Rampal Ji Maharaj ji and download the free app Sant Rampal Ji Maharaj.
FAQs on Booker Prize 2025 Winner for the novel “Flesh”
1. What novel won the Booker Prize 2025?
David Szalay’s novel Flesh won the Booker Prize 2025 for its powerful storytelling, emotional depth, and exceptional literary craftsmanship.
2. Why did David Szalay’s Flesh win the Booker Prize 2025?
Judges praised Flesh for its profound themes, meticulous structure, and compelling portrayal of isolation, identity, and human vulnerability.
3. What is the storyline of Flesh by David Szalay?
Flesh follows István’s life journey through immigration struggles, loneliness, family tragedies, and emotional detachment across Hungary and London.
4. What themes does the novel Flesh explore?
The novel explores solitude, bodily existence, loss, migration, emotional distance, and the human search for meaning.
5. When and where was the Booker Prize 2025 announced?
The Booker Prize 2025 was announced on November 11, 2025, at Old Billingsgate in London.
