M. John Harrison has won the 2026 Booker Prize for his novel The End of Everything, becoming the oldest winner in the prize’s history at 81.
The announcement came at a ceremony at Old Billingsgate in London on Monday. Harrison takes home £50,000 and a trophy presented by last year’s winner, David Szalay.
The judges reached their decision unanimously after a day of debate, according to chair Mary Beard. Harrison’s book, a 198-page dystopian satire, was the shortest on this year’s six-book shortlist and his first Booker nomination.
The End of Everything is set in Dalston-on-Sea, an English coastal town, in the near future. It follows Philip as mysterious lifeforms known as the iGhetti move in, and the judges said the book leaves readers with a twinge of optimism despite its bleak subject matter.
Harrison, a British author and literary critic whose career spans 60 years, beat five other finalists chosen from 163 submissions. The win is also a first for his publisher, Serpent’s Tail, an imprint of independent press Profile Books.
Source: CNN
