The 2026 Booker Prize goes to “The End of Everything” by M. John Harrison: NPR

Gaby Wood, chief executive of the Booker Prize Foundation, called Mr John Harrison “a truly original thinker, a genre-defying writer who takes ideas seriously”.

Yuki Sugiura/Booker Prize Foundation

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Yuki Sugiura/Booker Prize Foundation

The end of everything by British author M. John Harrison has won the 2026 Booker Prize. In a statement, Mary Beard, chair of this year’s jury, called it one that bowls you over, raises a wry smile – and, surprisingly, given the subject matter, leaves you with a pang of optimism. »

The satirical science fiction novel follows Philip, a man searching for “artifacts” along the coast of Kent, England, and his aunt Marnie. The book is set in a post-apocalyptic future, dealing with the slow invasion of the shape-shifting iGhetti.

In an interview with the Booker Prize team, Harrison said he was inspired by current events: “What happens when all our expectations and explanations of the world become a permanent disaster, but we still have to live our lives?”

At 81, Harrison is the oldest author to win this award in history. He had a writing career spanning several decades, with All being his 13th novel. Most of his career has been spent writing science fiction. His 2006 novel, Nova swingwon the Arthur C. Clarke and Philip K. Dick awards (which recognize the best in science fiction in the UK and US respectively).

“Many past Booker Prize authors have borrowed facets of science fiction in their work,” Gaby Wood, executive director of the Booker Prize Foundation, wrote in a statement. “But Mr John Harrison is the first Booker winner to emerge from the real world of SF. He is a truly original thinker, a genre-defying writer who takes ideas seriously.”

The Booker Prize recognizes the best fiction published in the United Kingdom and Ireland. In addition to Beard, this year’s judges included poet Raymond Antrobus, Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker, editor and critic Rebecca Liu and poet and novelist Patricia Lockwood. Other books shortlisted for the award this year included one by Marlon James. The missing And The things we never say by Elizabeth Strout.

Prize winners receive £50,000 (approximately $67,000) and a trophy presented by the previous year’s winner. Author David Szalay won the 2025 prize with his novel Flesh.