The annual Booker Prize always gets readers buzzing – but this year’s shortlist feels especially charged.
Maybe it’s the influence of new judge Sarah Jessica Parker (yes, that SJP from Sex and the City), or maybe it’s the eclectic mix of outsiders populating the six chosen novels. Either way, the 2025 Booker shortlist is nothing short of electric.
Who is on the shortlist for 2025?
In a nutshell:
- Flesh by David Szalay
- The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller
- The Rest of Our Lives by Ben Markovits
- Audition by Katie Kitamura
- The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai
- Flashlight by Susan Choi
Leading the pack is Susan Choi’s Flashlight, a haunting geopolitical thriller that begins with a missing father and ends up spanning decades of post-war Korean and Japanese history. It’s part mystery, part meditation on loss. There’s also Kiran Desai’s The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny, a sprawling love story 20 years in the making, tracing two Indian students in America as they wrestle with identity, ambition, and the ache of belonging.
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Katie Kitamura’s Audition takes us inside the mind of an actor who may (or may not) be losing her grip on reality — a psychological puzzle box praised by Barack Obama himself. Ben Markovits’s The Rest of Our Lives offers a road trip through memory and regret, following a father who drives away from his marriage and into self-discovery. Rounding out the British contingent are Andrew Miller’s The Land in Winter, an exquisitely written historical novel set during the 1963 English freeze, and David Szalay’s Flesh, a stark, affectless portrait of a Hungarian man adrift through decades of quiet disconnection.
Who is on the longlist?
In a nutshell:
- Misinterpretation by Ledia Xhoga
- Seascraper by Benjamin Wood
- Endling by Maria Reva
- One Boat by Jonathan Buckley
- Universality by Natasha Brown
- The South by Tash Aw
- Love Forms by Claire Adam
As for the longlist, several notable names missed the final cut. Maria Reva’s Endling, with its surreal snail-centric drama, and Benjamin Wood’s Seascraper drew attention for their ambition, while Tash Aw’s The South was a regional favourite for its political depth.
When is the winner announced?
The winner is set to be announced next week on Monday 10 November. The 2025 winner will take home a £50,000 prize, and the literary world's most prestigious award.
