John Harrison, 81, wins 2026 Booker Prize for dystopian novel
Why it matters: The £50,000 award gave speculative fiction a rare Booker victory and made Harrison the prize’s oldest winner.
British writer John Harrison won the 2026 Booker Prize on Monday for “The End of Everything,” a dystopian satire that judges said examines the limits of human understanding. Harrison, 81, became the oldest winner in the award’s history and took home the £50,000 prize at a ceremony in London. The 198-page novel follows Phillip Tennent and his aunt Marnie on England’s south coast after social order has collapsed and mysterious beings called the iGhetti have appeared. Mary Beard, who chaired the judging panel, said the judges chose the book unanimously. It was Harrison’s first Booker Prize after a six-decade career as a novelist and critic, and a rare win for speculative fiction.