THE 2025 BOOKER PRIZE WINNING AUTHOR OF FLESH

It is 1948 in Russia and Aleksandr, a major in the MGB (the forerunner of the KGB) is sent to an isolated psychiatric clinic to investigate one of the patients there. The patient is a man long presumed dead - a now severely incapacitated veteran of the Second World War, who seems unable to remember any of his past.

Twenty-four years later, Aleksandr is haunted by the case. With his Stalinist faith under threat as the Cold War recedes, he interrogates his memories and the effect the case had on himself and on those he loved most.

'Psychologically intricate, flawlessly researched' The Times

'Impressive' The Sunday Times

'David Szalay... has created an extraordinary character, a KGB man you can imagine knowing or even being' Observer

A psychologically intricate, flawlessly researched tale of Stalin's legacy through the eyes of a disillusioned old communist. It felt as English as Le Carre with its elegant Cold War scene-setting and quiet but intense emotional range. -- Melissa Katsoulis * Times *
This is a double headed story that is both sad and compelling -- Nina Caplan * Timeout *
Szalay weaves a multilayered narrative ripe with period detail... A challenging thriller... Gripping * Metro *
Impressive... Still in his mid-thirties, Szalay will surely soon be adding more prizes to his Betty Trask * The Sunday Times *
Szalay moves skilfully across time and shows that history's end is not prophesied in books, but written in the wind -- Steven Martin * The Big Issue *
David Szalay... has created an extraordinary character, a KGB man you can imagine knowing or even being * Observer *
This is an exciting and memorable read. Expertly researched, it feels authentic, but wears its learning reassuringly lightly. Anyone who appreciated Martin Amis's Koba the Dread and Orlando Figes's The Whisperers will love it -- Viv Groskop * Observer *
Very atmospheric -- Ann Northfield * Historical Novels Review *

David Szalay is the author of six works of fiction, including London and the South-East, for which he was awarded the Betty Trask and Geoffrey Faber Memorial prizes, All That Man Is, for which he was awarded the Gordon Burn Prize and Plimpton Prize for Fiction and shortlisted for the Booker Prize, and Turbulence, which won the Edge Hill Prize. Born in Canada, he grew up in London, and now lives in Vienna. His work has been translated into more than thirty languages.