UK writer M. John Harrison wins Booker Prize for AI-tinged apocalyptic novel

M. John Harrison has won the Booker Prize for “The End of Everything”, becoming the oldest recipient of the award at 81. It is his first time on the shortlist, and the judges praised the novel’s writing and ambition; the win is expected to raise the profile of a writer best known among science-fiction readers.

Harrison’s 198-page novel follows Phillip Tennent and his aunt Marnie on a near-future English coast after an unexplained catastrophe, where mysterious objects called iGhetti can imitate people. Its dream-like story evokes artificial intelligence, Brexit, the Covid-19 pandemic and technology’s place in daily life. The prize carries £50,000, and Harrison’s book was selected from 163 entries, beating five other shortlisted novels.