6 Booker Prize winners that will change the way you see the world
The End of Everything by M. John Harrison, a post-apocalyptic novel set on the Kent coast, was announced as the 2026 Booker Prize this November.
When a novel wins the Booker Prize the world sits up and listens. Often, it’s awarded to a story that makes the judges feel deeply, opens their eyes to fresh ideas and breaks new ground – all of which is true of this year’s honouree. Acclaimed novelist M. John Harrison is not only the oldest recipient of the prize at the age of eighty-one but also the first bonafide science fiction writer, and The End of Everything shows him at the peak of his powers.
The dystopian novel has been praised for its depiction of current politics through a futuristic lens, with the novel’s ‘iGhetti’, shape-shifting beings that pose a threat to the surviving humans, hinting towards an observation of the current and looming threats of AI.
Established in 1969, the Booker Prize is awarded to a work of fiction written in English and published in the UK and Ireland, and honours the author with a £50,000 cash prize and a globally respected mark of approval. The End of Everything was selected as the winner out of 163 considerations, and a subsequent shortlist of 6 books by the 2026 judging panel, which included award-winning poet, writer and educator Raymond Antrobus, musician, writer and broadcaster Jarvis Cocker; and journalist and editor and critic Rebecca Liu, among others.
Whether you’re an avid reader, or are browsing gifts for the upcoming holiday season, we have compiled a list of previous Booker Prize winners that will challenge your views and widen your perspective. Every one deserves a place on your shelf.
Orbital by Samantha Harvey, 2024 Winner
This genre-bending novel follows six astronauts inside the International Space
Station over a 24-hour period as they wrestle with existential questions about religion, climate change and their lives back on Earth.
Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart, 2020 Winner
Based in post-industrial 1980s Glasgow, this hauntingly beautiful story gives you a child’s-eye view of survival in working-class Scotland. Author Douglas Stuart was shortlisted again for this year’s Booker Prize for his latest novel, John Of John.
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo, 2019 Winner
A groundbreaking journey through the lives of 12 predominantly Black, female characters in the UK spanning multiple generations and cultural intersections, Girl, Woman, Other won the Booker alongside Margaret Atwood’s The Testaments.
The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai, 2006 Winner
A politically sharp family saga set in 1986 in the Himalayas and New York, Desai masterfully explores themes of ethnic conflict, post-colonialism and globalization rooted in an utterly human story.
The God Of Small Things by Arundhati Roy, 1997 Winner
The author’s debut novel paints a vivid picture of life in a rural Indian town, following seven-year-old twins raised by a single mother as they navigate a childhood against a backdrop of political turmoil.
The End of Everything by M. John Harrison, 2026 Winner
The dystopian novel set on the Kent coast has been praised for its depiction of current politics through a futuristic lens, with hints of observations on the current and looming threats of AI.
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