Books

The Booker Prize winners

When it began in 1969, the goal of the Booker Prize was to increase readership of quality fiction by celebrating and promoting the best books of the year. Orginally called the Man Booker Prize, it is one of the most prestigious awards in the book world. The winners enjoy a huge sales boost and some titles have become classics. Winning authors include Margaret Atwood, Ian McEwan, Michael Ondaatje and Kingsley Amis. Big-hitters Peter Carey, Hilary Mantel and J.M. Coetzee have multiple Booker victories.

The annual £50,000 prize (about $75,000 USD) is granted to the best novel originally written in English and published in the UK in the year of the prize, regardless of the nationality of the author. Until 2013, only writers from Commonwealth countries were eligible to win the prize. The winner is selected by a rotating panel of judges who pare a long list of about a dozen down to six, then one. It's not an easy task - three times, in 2019, 1992 and 1974, the judges declared a draw and selected two winners.

Author Graham Swift, winner of the 1996 Booker for Last Orders, said, "Prizes don't make writers and writers don't write to win prizes, but in the near-glut of literary awards now on offer, the Booker remains special. It's the one which, if we're completely honest, we most covet."

Paul Lynch wins the 2023 Booker Prize for his dystopian novel "Prophet Song," set in Ireland. Inspired by the Syrian war and refugee crisis, this is Lynch's first win and fifth novel, a four-year project completed as his son grew. The book reflects on current societal challenges, earning acclaim for its timely vision and narrative depth.

Explore the winning books since 1969 - from P.H. Newby to 20223 winner Paul Lynch.

Booker Prize-winning books

By Paul Lynch
2023
By Shehan Karunatilaka
2022
By Damon Galgut
2021
By Douglas Stuart
2020
By Bernadine Evaristo
2019 (tie)
By Margaret Atwood
2019 (tie)
By Anna Burns
2018
By George Saunders
2017
By Paul Beatty
2016
By Richard Flanagan
2014
By Eleanor Catton
2013
By Hilary Mantel
2012
By Julian Barnes
2011
By Howard Jacobson
2010
By Hilary Mantel
2009
By Aravind Adiga
2008
By Anne Enright
2007
By Kiran Desai
2006
By John Banville
2005
By Alan Hollinghurst
2004
By DBC Pierre
2003
By Yann Patel
2002
By Margaret Atwood
2000
By J.M. Coetzee
1999
By Ian McEwan
1998
By Arundhati Roy
1997
By Graham Swift
1996
By Pat Barker
1995
By James Kelman
1994
By Roddy Doyle
1993
By Michael Ondaatje
1992 (tie)
By Barry Unsworth
1992 (tie)
By Ben Okri
1991
By A.S. Byatt
1990
By Kazuo Ishiguro
1989
By Peter Carey
1988
By Penelope Lively
1987
By Kingsley Amis
1986
By Keri Hulme
1985
By Anita Brookner
1984
By J.M. Coetzee
1983
By Thomas Keneally
1982
By Salman Rushdie
1981
By William Golding
1980
By Penelope Fitzgerald
1979
By Iris Murdoch
1978
By Paul Scott
1977
By David Storey
1976
By Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
1975
By Nadine Gordimer
1974 (tie)
By Stanley Middleton
1974 (tie)
By J.G. Farrell
1973
G.
By John Berger
1972
By V.S. Naipaul
1971
By Bernice Rubens
1970
By P.H. Newby
1969

Share

Discover book awards

September 14, 2021
The National Book Awards began in 1950 in New York City when The Man With the Golden Arm by Nelson Algren was named America’s premier piece of fiction from the previous year. Today, it’s the most important event on the American literary calendar and continues to recognize the best in American writing.
1 Min Read
August 24, 2021
Kazuo Ishiguro won the 2017 Nobel Prize for Literature, and was knighted by the British monarch a year later. He is best known for the novels The Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go, both of which have been turned into films.
2 Min Read
October 01, 2021
Since 1996, the Women's Prize for Fiction has recognized and celebrated the best women writers around the world. Discover award-winning books from the likes of Zadie Smith, Carol Shields, Ali Smith, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and more.
1 Min Read