David Szalay wins Gordon Burn Prize 2016!

Congratulations to David Szalay, who has been awarded the Gordon Burn Prize 2016 for his 'unsparing' novel, ALL THAT MAN IS (2016, Jonathan Cape).

William Boyd, one of the judges, said: 'ALL THAT MAN IS emerged fairly swiftly as a frontrunner. It is a novel – like Gordon’s fiction – that subtly changes the way you look at the contemporary world. A very rare effect, in fact. In addition, it is darkly funny, marvellously observant and written with a confidence and limpidity that make it a really remarkable novel.'

Rachel Cooke, a fellow judge, agreed that ALL THAT MAN IS 'stood out … by a mile' from the rest of the shortlist. 'Judging prizes is never easy. But this was fairly straightforward in the end. David’s book just seemed to float off into its own orbit... It’s a witty book, sometimes savage, even, but it seems also to go places few novels and stories do now… So many different kinds of men are portrayed here, in so many different places, and with so unsparing an eye. It’s just fantastically well done.'

ALL THAT MAN is also shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, which will be announced on the 25th of October 2016.