No winner has ever been this old: Booker Prize for science fiction novel
10/11/2026
Translation: machine translated
He had to reach the age of 81 and publish 13 novels over 60 years as a writer. Only now has the British author M. John Harrison won the prestigious Booker Prize. It is a double premiere.
No author has ever been as old as the 2026 prize winner. However, no one wins the Booker Prize out of pity or because of their age – not even Harrison, who has already published twelve novels and dozens of short stories.
The Booker Prize jury has now awarded Harrison's 13th novel. A total of 163 books were reviewed, and six made it onto the shortlist. For the first time, a science fiction novel won.
«The End of Everything» is a dystopian satire that explores the limits of human understanding, according to the jury's statement. Harrison received £50,000 in prize money and a trophy.
So far, the novel has only been published in English; a German translation is in progress and is expected to be available next April.
What is «The End of Everything» about?
As readers, we follow Philip Tennent, a beachcomber, and his gun-toting aunt, who are struggling to get by together on the coast of Kent in the near future. A beachcomber earns a living by collecting items washed up from the English Channel. It is a different world than the one we know: the blurb mentions "the crisis that changed everything." Years have passed since then. But no one knows exactly what happened. Nevertheless, the government is slowly collapsing, Europe seems to be disintegrating, and the oceans are teeming with new creatures. One day, Phillip fishes something out of the water that he cannot keep. A being that is constantly changing. An artifact that he must take inland before it destroys everything he thinks he knows.
Sounds cryptic, but like something I would like to read.
Header image: Keystone SDA, Kirsty Wigglesworth
Martin Jungfer
Head of Content
Martin.Jungfer@digitecgalaxus.chJournalist since 1997. Stopovers in Franconia (or the Franken region), Lake Constance, Obwalden, Nidwalden and Zurich. Father since 2014. Expert in editorial organisation and motivation. Focus on sustainability, home office tools, beautiful things for the home, creative toys and sports equipment.
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