Szalay, David: Flesh

THE BOOKER PRIZE 2025.

Through chance, luck and choice, one man’s life takes him from a modest apartment in Hungary to the elite society of London – in this captivating new novel about the forces that make and break our lives

Fifteen-year-old István lives with his mother in a quiet apartment complex in Hungary. New to the town and shy, he is unfamiliar with the social rituals at school and soon becomes isolated, with his neighbour – a married woman close to his mother’s age – as his only companion. As these encounters shift into a clandestine relationship, István’s life spirals out of control.

Years later, rising through the ranks from the army to the elite circles of London''s super-rich, he navigates the twenty-first century''s tides of money and power. Torn between love, intimacy, status, and wealth, his newfound riches threaten to undo him completely.

''A revelatory novel'' Sunday Times

''So much searing insight into the way we live now'' Observer

‘Refreshing, illuminating and true’ Financial Times