M. John Harrison wins Booker Prize for The End of Everything

British writer M. John Harrison has won the 2026 Booker Prize for his novel “The End of Everything,” becoming the oldest recipient of the award at 81, ERR reported. He was announced as the winner at a ceremony in London on Monday and will receive £50,000, or about €59,000.

The novel is set in the near future in an English coastal town occupied by mysterious life forms. It is told mainly through the perspective of Phillip Tennent, who collects objects found on the beach and discovers an object of biological origin left in the sea by the invaders.

The origins, aims and actions of the creatures largely remain a mystery. Some critics have read the novel as an allegory about the development of artificial intelligence, but Harrison said the idea came to him before generative AI became widespread. In an interview with BBC Radio, he cited the 2008 financial crisis as an inspiration.

Before the winner was announced, the judges said the book could be read as a thriller, mystery, satire, dystopia, road novel or realist work, adding that it presents its story from an unusual angle and includes an unexpected turn.

Harrison has written science fiction for more than 50 years. His work includes the “Viriconium” series, which began in 1971 and is set in a future land, and the “Kefahuchi Tract” trilogy, published between 2002 and 2012. He was nominated for the Booker Prize for the first time this year.

A total of 163 books were submitted for the prize. The judges first selected a longlist of 13 titles, followed by six finalists. Harrison’s novel beat works by previous Booker winners Marlon James and Douglas Stuart. The other finalists were Luke Kennard’s “Black Bag,” Elizabeth Strout’s “The Things We Never Say” and Rebecca Perry’s “May We Feed the King.”

The judges were chaired by historian Mary Beard and included writers Raymond Antrobus and Patricia Lockwood, literary critic Rebecca Liu and Jarvis Cocker, lead singer of the British band Pulp.

The Booker Prize has been awarded since 1969. It was initially open only to authors from the United Kingdom, Ireland and Commonwealth countries. Since 2014, English-language fiction by authors of any nationality has been eligible, provided the book is published in the UK or Ireland. David Szalay won last year’s prize for “Flesh.”