M John Harrison wins the Booker prize for apocalyptic novel The End of Everything

Summary

British science fiction writer M John Harrison has won the Booker prize for The End of Everything, according to The Guardian and Le Monde. The Guardian reports that Harrison, at 81 the oldest winner in the prize's history, is the first science fiction author to win it, a recognition it describes as the culmination of a six-decade journey from the margins. The novel follows beachcomber Phillip and his artist aunt Marnie on the Kent coast, decades after alien entities called the iGhetti have leaked into the world and triggered a slow-motion social collapse. The Guardian calls the book baffling and deliberately unsettling, and says its catastrophes invite readings about late-stage capitalism, Brexit, climate degradation and AI. Le Monde describes it as the 13th novel by the veteran writer, with aunt Marnie as dementia-stricken and free-spirited, set on the windswept English coast.

Timeline

1. The Guardian

   9 Nov 2026, 22:00 UTCSource ↗

   Reports that M John Harrison has won the Booker prize for The End of Everything, making him, at 81, the oldest winner ever and the first science fiction author to win the prize.

2. Le Monde

   10 Nov 2026, 09:41 UTCSource ↗

   Reports that UK writer M. John Harrison has won the Booker for The End of Everything, the 13th novel by the veteran British science fiction writer, which follows beachcomber Phillip Tennent and his dementia-stricken aunt Marnie on the English coast.