On a November night in London, a late-blooming veteran of British science fiction, M. John Harrison, was crowned with the Booker Prize, the oldest writer ever to receive it. His slim, unsettling novel The End of Everything imagines a near-future English coast where strange objects called iGhetti arrive, mimic human forms, and blur the line between a person and a machine, while an unnamed catastrophe leaves the old world behind. The honour arrives after decades of quiet influence, reminding us that literature often sees the shape of our anxieties before we have words for them, and that a prize
M. John Harrison, at 81, Wins the Booker for Apocalyptic Satire on AI and Post-Brexit Britain
The politics of now seen through the lens of the future
Mark
Why is this win being read as bigger than one book?
Mimi
Partly age and timing. Harrison is 81, the oldest Booker winner, and this was his first shortlisting after decades in science fiction. Critics called it overdue.
Mark
And the book itself?
Mimi
It's short, 198 pages, set on an English coast after an unnamed catastrophe. A beachcomber, Phillip Tennent, and his aunt Marnie face the iGhetti, objects that can imitate humans.
Luke
Is the AI reading the author's, or the judges'?
Mimi
Mostly the judges'. Mary Beard said the iGhetti evoke AI and that concerns about it were high in the book. Harrison himself pointed to current affairs and the 2008 crisis.
Luke
So we shouldn't say he wrote an AI novel.
Mimi
Fair. The source has him talking about failed explanation and living through ongoing disaster. The AI link is how the chair framed it.
Mark
What did the judges say about AI more broadly?
Mimi
Beard said it will inevitably be on the agenda for publishing, and other judges wanted a shortlist of distinctly human books.
Luke
Does that mean AI decided the outcome?
Mimi
Nothing here says so. Beard cited the writing and the ambition. The AI theme is context, not a stated deciding factor.
Il Polso
- A 198-page post-apocalyptic novel about a beachcomber and his dementia-stricken aunt has slipped past bigger names to win Britain's most prestigious fiction prize.
- The judges' verdict lands on an uncomfortable question: the iGhetti, objects that imitate humans, raise the unsettling issue of what artificial intelligence is and whether it is sentient.
- Harrison, 81, a science fiction writer who had never been shortlisted before, now faces a sudden surge in sales, attention and a £50,000 purse.
- Judge Mary Beard warns that AI will inevitably reshape publishing and writing, and the prize committee is already searching for work no machine could replicate.
On a November night in London, a late-blooming veteran of British science fiction, M. John Harrison, was crowned with the Booker Prize, the oldest writer ever to receive it. His slim, unsettling novel The End of Everything imagines a near-future English coast where strange objects called iGhetti arrive, mimic human forms, and blur the line between a person and a machine, while an unnamed catastrophe leaves the old world behind. The honour arrives after decades of quiet influence, reminding us that literature often sees the shape of our anxieties before we have words for them, and that a prize can finally bring a long-unheard voice into the light.
On the night of 9 November, in London, M. John Harrison, 81, was named winner of the Booker Prize for The End of Everything. He is the oldest author to take the award, and the £50,000 prize will bring the sales and profile boost that usually follows. For a man long admired within British science fiction but little known beyond it, the honour feels like a belated debt being paid. Critics have said as much, and when the shortlist was announced, one newspaper simply declared that he was finally getting his due.
The novel follows Phillip Tennent, a beachcomber, and his free-spirited aunt Marnie, who has dementia. They live on a windswept English coast in the near future, where mysterious objects called iGhetti have appeared. An unnamed catastrophe has left the continent seemingly gone, and the characters drift through a murky world where the iGhetti can imitate people, echoing our own fears about artificial intelligence. Dream-like passages nod to Brexit, the pandemic and technology's creeping presence in daily life.
Chair of the judges Mary Beard praised the book's expert writing and its enormous ambition, and said it captured the politics of now through the lens of the future. Harrison himself said the themes grew from current affairs, and he asked what it means to keep living when every explanation of the world has become an ongoing disaster.
AI loomed over the deliberations. Beard has said the prize cannot ignore its role in writing and publishing, and other judges wanted a shortlist of books that were distinctly human. Harrison's win suggests that, for now, the human voice still has the last word.
On the night of Nov 9, at a ceremony in London, M. John Harrison, 81, was named winner of the Booker Prize for his novel The End of Everything. He became the oldest author to take the award, which carries £50,000 (S$85,938) and the lift in sales and profile that usually follows.
It was the first time Harrison had even been shortlisted. A veteran of the British science fiction scene, he was born in Rugby in 1945 and is known for the Viriconium saga, published between 1971 and 1984, and for Light (2002), the first volume of the trilogy called The Kefahuchi Tract. Both are regarded as major works of the genre, though he is little known to the general public outside science fiction circles. When the shortlist was announced, The Telegraph wrote: "Finally, he's getting his due." Critics have said the recognition was long overdue.
He beat five other shortlisted writers: Marlon James, Douglas Stuart, Elizabeth Strout, Luke Kennard and Rebecca Perry. Their books ranged from a queer epic set in 1980s Kingston to a campus satire set in modern-day London. The judges had worked through 163 entries over a year-long selection process to arrive at those six.
The End of Everything is Harrison's 13th novel, and a tight one at 198 pages. It follows Phillip Tennent, a beachcomber, and his free-spirited aunt Marnie, who has dementia. They live on a windswept English coast in the near future, where mysterious objects known as the iGhetti have arrived. An unnamed catastrophe has plunged the characters into a murky post-apocalyptic world in which the European continent seems to have disappeared. The iGhetti can imitate humans, which evokes interactions with artificial intelligence.
Mary Beard, chair of the judges, told a press conference the book came out ahead for its "extraordinary expert writing" and its "huge ambition". She said one main point of the novel is that if, or when, such an apocalypse comes, it will be incomprehensible. She also said it spoke to the present moment: "This is the politics of now seen through the lens of the future." On AI, she noted that Phillip has an object, an artefact, and it is not clear how sentient it is, or what it is.
In dream-like episodes, the novel alludes to Brexit, the Covid-19 pandemic and technology's invasion of daily life. As is often true of Harrison's writing, described as genre-bending and singular, atmosphere counts for more than plot, and his elliptical, poetic style heightens the feeling of gradual collapse.
Harrison said current affairs supplied the themes and the satire. He asked what happens when all our expectations and explanations of the world become an ongoing disaster, but we still have to make a life. He has said he was inspired by the 2008 financial crisis and wanted to write about the "failure of explanation in society".
AI hung over the judging. In an earlier interview with AFP, Beard said the panel will have to consider AI's role in publishing and writing in coming years: "You can't bury your head in the sand about that." Other judges have spoken of wanting a shortlist of books that were distinctly human and could not be replicated by AI. The prize is open to long-form fiction in English by writers of any nationality, published in the past year.
Citazioni salienti
This is the politics of now seen through the lens of the future.— Mary Beard, chair of the judges
What happens when all of our expectations and explanations of the world become an ongoing disaster, but we still have to make a life?— M. John Harrison
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