The Booker Prize 2026 shortlist has been announced, featuring six novels that span genres from historical fiction to campus comedy. Past winners Marlon James and Douglas Stuart are among the authors, alongside previous shortlistee Elizabeth Strout. British writers dominate the list, which also includes two debut novelists.
The selected titles take readers from Jamaica to coastal Massachusetts and the Outer Hebrides, with settings ranging from Medieval England to 1990s Isle of Harris, contemporary Maine, and 1980s Jamaica.
Judging panel and themes
The judging panel is chaired by Mary Beard, who said the narratives range from “the hilarious to the discomfiting, from the powerfully shocking to the intriguingly understated”, representing “writing at its best”. Beard added that the novels “brilliantly muster the power of words to take the reader to new places, to see old places from new angles, to change minds.”
The panel also includes poet Raymond Antrobus, musician Jarvis Cocker, journalist Rebecca Loi, and Booker-shortlisted novelist Patricia Lockwood. From dystopian fiction and contemporary realism to campus drama and historical fiction, the six authors explore humour, heartbreak and satire.
Prize details and past winners
The winner will be announced on Monday 9 November 2026, when the crowned author will receive £50,000. The only requirements are that the book must be a work of long-form fiction originally written in English (the author can be of any nationality) and published in the UK or Ireland between 1 October 2025 and 30 September 2026.
Past winners of the prestigious literary prize have included Hilary Mantel for Wolf Hall, Salman Rushdie for Midnight’s Children, and Arundhati Roy for The God of Small Things. In 2025, David Szalay took home the prize for Flesh, which has since enjoyed the same mainstream success as previous recent winners Shuggie Bain (Douglas Stuart) and Orbital (Samantha Harvey).
Shortlisted novels
The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout, published by Viking, is a standalone story set in coastal Massachusetts during the 2024 presidential election. Artie Dam is a high school history teacher grappling with middle-aged ennui. A brush with death and the unearthing of a decade-long secret change everything. £14.42, Amazon.co.uk
John of John by Douglas Stuart, published by Picador, explores his signature themes of masculinity, working-class Scottish life and family relationships on the Isle of Harris. It begins with the homecoming of John-Callum, a 22-year-old art graduate at odds with his devout Protestant father John, a sheep farmer and deacon in the small community's Presbyterian church. £16, Amazon.co.uk
The End of Everything by M. John Harrison, published by Serpent's Tail, introduces beachcomber Phillip Tennent and his artist aunt Marnie, who reside in a post-catastrophe coastal English town. A biological discovery forces them inland, where an alien-like enemy known as the iGhetti are at war with a fractured Europe. The author is 81 years old and could become the oldest winner in the prize’s history. £16.14, Amazon.co.uk
The Disappearers by Marlon James, published by Hamish Hamilton, returns to the same real-world setting of unstable 1980s Jamaica, as reimagined in A Brief History of Seven Killings. The novel focuses on eight gay men targeted in a brutal mob attack during a play rehearsal in late eighties Kingston. £16.36, Amazon.co.uk
May We Feed the King by Rebecca Perry, published by Granta, is a historical novel that jumps between the present day and a medieval village, following a modern museum curator and a past monarch. As the curator works on a reconstruction of the king’s private chambers, she becomes increasingly obsessed with his story, filling in the gaps with her own imagination. £12.85, Amazon.co.uk
Black Bag by Luke Kennard, published by John Murray, is a campus comedy drawing inspiration from a real 1960s experiment. The novel follows an out-of-work actor who accepts work for Dr Blend, a university professor conducting a psychological experiment. The job involves being zipped into an oversized bag to sit in the back of a hall during a series of autumn term lectures. £16.59, Amazon.co.uk
Longlisted titles
The Booker Dozen also includes The Shadow of the Object by Chloe Aridjis, published by Chatto & Windus, exploring magic and mortality, with praise from Zadie Smith and Deborah Levy. It follows Flora on a visit home to Mexico, where the family dog bites her hand. In hospital, she engages in dream-like conversations with an elderly German patient, which alters her perception of reality when back in London. £12.75, Amazon.co.uk
Switzy by Emma Cline, published by Chatto & Windus, follows an ageing man’s final journey to a clinic in Zurich, Switzerland. Travelling with notebooks to jog his degenerating mind, he stops over in London for a last supper with his estranged adult daughter and makes a pit stop in France for a reunion with an old friend. £13.10, Amazon.co.uk
Helen of Nowhere by Makenna Goodman, published by Fitzcarraldo Editions, follows a disgraced literature professor known only as “man”. Disgusted by modern politics and feeling persecuted by his peers, he views a remote house with a realtor, intending to flee city life for the countryside. While learning about the mystical former owner, Helen, he grapples with his own romanticised ego, crumbling marriage and antiquated worldviews. £10.59, Amazon.co.uk
The Renovation by Kenan Orhan, published by Hamish Hamilton, explores a family’s experience with exile and Alzheimers. The surrealist, political debut follows Dilara, a Turkish exile living in Italy. Her bathroom renovation has been inexplicably modelled as a prison cell – and she’s an inmate. Forcing her to confront grief, memory and migration, she reflects on caring for her aging father and hypochondriac husband. £14.25, Amazon.co.uk
The Palm House by Gwendoline Riley, published by Picador, is a slender, sombre novel exploring friendship and memory in Riley’s signature precise, understated prose. Narrated by Laura, a writer reflecting on difficult relationships and past trauma, the book captures how conversations and shared experiences shape identity. £12.96, Amazon.co.uk
All Them Dogs by Djamel White, published by John Murray, is a literary crime story set in Dublin’s violent underworld. It follows Tony Ward, who returns home after years in exile following a gangland killing. Exploring masculinity and sexuality with the pacing of a thriller, White is a new voice in Irish fiction. £15.39, Amazon.co.uk
The Vivisectors by Missouri Williams, published by 4th Estate, is set in a university city where political conflict is rife. It follows Agathe, a withdrawn graduate and assistant to a professor, whose life is disrupted when she is instructed to befriend a controversial student. Exploring institutional decay, power dynamics and personal trauma, it’s a philosophical read. £14.79, Amazon.co.uk
Book enthusiasts who challenged themselves to read all 13 books ahead of the November ceremony can now focus on the six shortlisted titles, available to purchase online.
