M. John Harrison, 81, is the oldest Booker Prize winner
· BehindLines newsroom
British writer M. John Harrison, 81, has won the 2026 Booker Prize for The End of Everything, a post-apocalyptic novel of his. According to the BBC, he was named on Monday 9 November at a ceremony in London and becomes the oldest winner, ahead of Margaret Atwood.
A £50,000 prize
The Wikipedia page on the 2026 edition says the ceremony took place at Old Billingsgate, in the City, in London and that the judges considered 163 books. The 13-title longlist was released on 28 July, the six-title shortlist on 22 September. At 198 pages, the novel was the shortest of the finalists; it is the first Booker win for the independent publisher Serpent's Tail. The other finalists included Marlon James, Douglas Stuart, Elizabeth Strout, Luke Kennard and Rebecca Perry, according to the BBC.
A novel without explanations
The End of Everything is set on the south-east coast of England after an unexplained catastrophe and the arrival of extraterrestrial beings: a man and his aunt try to keep on living. Harrison says he removed as much explanation as possible so that readers share the characters' disorientation. He describes his book as a satire of today's information overload, a disaster of "explanation" more than of events. For Gaby Wood, chief executive of the Booker Prize, he is "a genuinely original thinker" and the first winner to have come from the world of science fiction. Mary Beard, who chaired the judges, concedes it is a demanding read but feels the book leaves a twinge of optimism.
A sixty-year career
Harrison has been writing since the 1960s. According to the BBC, his output runs to 13 novels, an "anti-memoir" and five collections of short stories. He dislikes labels such as science fiction or fantasy. Wikipedia presents him as the first science fiction writer to receive the prize. Critical reception is divided: the BBC cites the Guardian, which said the book "won't be for everyone", and the Literary Review, which sees "a work of uncanny beauty".
Why it matters
According to the BBC, the prize makes Harrison the oldest Booker winner, at the end of a sixty-year career. Gaby Wood says he is also the first winner to have come from the world of science fiction. His novel has divided readers, the BBC reports.