‘I tossed books across the room’: Booker Prize judges reveal ‘tussle’ over shortlist

The End of Everything by M John Harrison

An unexplained catastrophe, and the arrival of mysterious alien beings, have turned British society upside down – and a man and his elderly aunt muddle through on the Kent coast. It’s the author’s first Booker nomination, and he’d be the oldest ever winner at 81.

The judges said: “The End of Everything can be read as a thriller, a mystery, a satire, a dystopia, a road novel, a work of realism. The landscape may be bleak, the catastrophe may be immersive, yet there still were moments we found ourselves laughing aloud.”

The Disappearers by Marlon James

This epic, visceral story revolves around a violent attack on eight gay men who had gathered to rehearse a queer play in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1988, and its aftermath. The New York Times called it “a masterpiece, the novel of the decade and possibly of the century thus far”. James previously won the Booker for A Brief History of Seven Killings in 2015.

The judges said: “A Jamaican epic from one of the most impactful Caribbean novelists today; readers will love the shifting register of the dialogue and poetic phrasings, often pierced through with sharp, double-edged humour.”

Black Bag by Luke Kennard

An out-of work actor gets a new role – being locked in a black bag during psychology lectures for an entire term as a professor’s experiment. The story unfolds into a humorous and poignant satire that makes sharp observations about the state of modern masculinity and creative life.

The judges said: “In a wonderfully quirky campus novel, Kennard combines an absurd experiment with a moving story about human frailty, passion, confusion and identity. There’s something for everyone here.”

May We Feed the King by Rebecca Perry

A modern-day museum curator is commissioned to recreate a past scene in a historic palace, and becomes immersed in the world of the young, reluctant king whose life she uncovers. It is the debut novel by Perry, who is also a poet and a former competitive trampolinist.

The judges said: “An affecting and lush jewel of a novel that moves between our present-day world to a medieval court and unsettles the idea that there’s ever one universal historical truth.”

The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout

Strout, a former Pulitzer Prize winner and double Booker nominee, tells the story of a high school history teacher in his 50s who feels adrift in modern America. When a secret emerges, he must face big questions about his relationships and life choices.

The judges said: “A novel that engages with the deeply divisive politics of present-day America, without itself becoming divisive. This is the kind of book we need now: a calm antidote to contemporary events.”

John of John by Douglas Stuart

The third novel by Stuart, who won the Booker in 2020 for Shuggie Bain, is about a gay Scottish fashion student who is drawn back to his home in a small, religious community in the Outer Hebrides in the mid-1990s. He and his father both nurse secrets. And both are called John.

The judges said: “A rich and moving novel about a father and son who live on a remote Scottish island in the 1990s, where small-town secrets and buried shame reverberate to surprising, devastating and even joyous effect.”