LONDON, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) -- British science fiction writer M. John Harrison won the 2026 Booker Prize on Monday for his novel "The End of Everything," becoming the oldest winner in the literary award's history.
The 81-year-old author received the 50,000-pound (about 67,000 U.S. dollars) prize at a ceremony at Old Billingsgate in London. It was his first nomination for the Booker Prize, following a writing career spanning more than six decades.
Set on the southern coast of England several decades into the future, "The End of Everything" follows Phillip Tennent and his elderly aunt Marnie as they struggle to make sense of life after a mysterious catastrophe. With social order breaking down and strange creatures appearing, the novel explores how people respond to a world they can no longer understand.
Mary Beard, chair of the five-member judging panel, said the judges reached a unanimous decision after a full day of discussion. She described the novel as one that "leaves you with a twinge of optimism" despite its unsettling subject matter.
"This is the politics of now seen through the lens of the future," Beard said.
Born in 1945, Harrison began publishing fiction in the 1960s and has written extensively across science fiction, fantasy and literary fiction. His works have previously won several literary awards.
This year's shortlist was selected from 163 submissions. Established in 1969, the Booker Prize recognizes outstanding fiction written in English and published in Britain or Ireland.
