David Szalay wins 2025 Booker prize for ‘dark’ Flesh

The judges had never read anything quite like it', says panel chair Roddy Doyle, announcing the Hungarian-British author's novel as the winner of the 50,000 award

• Justine Jordan: The risky strategy of Booker winner Flesh pays off

Hungarian-British author David Szalay has won the 2025 Booker prize for his novel Flesh.

Szalay's sixth work of fiction traces the life of one man, Istvan, from his youth to midlife. The judges had never read anything quite like it", said panel chair Roddy Doyle, who won the prize in 1993. It is, in many ways, a dark book, but it is a joy to read."