Szalay wins Booker prize for pared-back novel 'conceived in the shadow of failure'

The Hungarian-British author David Szalay has won this year's Booker prize for his novel Flesh.

- Ella Creamer

The novel, Szalay's sixth work of fiction, traces the life of one man, István, from his youth to midlife.

The judges "had never read anything quite like it", said the panel chair, Roddy Doyle, who won the prize himself in 1993. "It is, in many ways, a dark book, but it is a joy to read." Flesh opens with a shocking incident that unfolds while the teenage István is living in an apartment complex with his mother in Hungary.

Szalay then follows the protagonist as he spends time in the military before moving to London, where he begins working for the uber-rich. Written in spare prose, the novel explores masculinity, class, migration, trauma, sex and power.

Szalay was announced as the winner of the £50,000 award at a ceremony held in Old Billingsgate in London last night. He was previously shortlisted for the prize in 2016 for his novel All That Man Is.

The decision to hand Szalay the award was unanimous, said Doyle.

Joining him on this year's panel was the actor Sarah Jessica Parker, along with the writers Chris Power, Ayòbámi Adébáyò and Kiley Reid.