The 2025 Booker Prize longlist brought together 13 novels, from a 156-page book to a novel of more than 650 pages. It was announced on 29 July 2025, and David Szalay’s Flesh went on to win the prize on 10 November. This guide lists every longlisted title and publisher, then offers a practical way to choose where to start.
Which novels were on the 2025 Booker Prize longlist?
The Booker Prize Foundation announced the longlist on 29 July 2025. Its 13 novels were selected from more than 150 works of long-form fiction written in English and published in the UK and/or Ireland between 1 October 2024 and 30 September 2025. The list below follows the Foundation’s published titles and publishers.
- Love Forms — Claire Adam (Faber)
- The South — Tash Aw (4th Estate)
- Universality — Natasha Brown (Faber)
- One Boat — Jonathan Buckley (Fitzcarraldo Editions)
- Flashlight — Susan Choi (Jonathan Cape)
- The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny — Kiran Desai (Hamish Hamilton)
- Audition — Katie Kitamura (Fern Press)
- The Rest of Our Lives — Ben Markovits (Faber)
- The Land in Winter — Andrew Miller (Sceptre)
- Endling — Maria Reva (Virago)
- Flesh — David Szalay (Jonathan Cape)
- Seascraper — Benjamin Wood (Viking)
- Misinterpretation — Ledia Xhoga (Daunt Books Originals)
The Booker Prize Foundation’s 2025 longlist page identifies Endling and Misinterpretation as debut novels. Kiran Desai was the only previous Booker Prize winner on the list: she won in 2006 for The Inheritance of Loss.
How to choose a longlisted novel to read first
The official overview presents the books as varied in length and form, with attention to identity, the past, and the present. The comparisons below stick to the characteristics the Foundation reports; they are useful starting points, not plot summaries or rankings.
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If you want a shorter read
Universality is listed at 156 pages, and the Foundation says four of the 13 novels are under 200 pages. It does not identify the other three in the cited overview, so page count alone cannot establish which other titles are shorter. At the opposite end, The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny runs to more than 650 pages, according to the Foundation’s 2025 overview.
If you are interested in form and scope
The judges’ chair described the longlist as including novels that experiment with form and others that do so less obviously. The Foundation also describes the books as exploring identity, individual or national, and engaging with both past and present. Those are broad observations across the list, not a book-by-book guide to style or subject.
If you want to start with a debut
The Foundation identifies two debut novels: Maria Reva’s Endling and Ledia Xhoga’s Misinterpretation. If you prefer to read a first novel from a writer new to the Booker longlist, these are the two to consider.
If prior Booker recognition matters to you
Kiran Desai is the only author on the 2025 longlist who had previously won the Booker Prize. Her 2006 winning novel was The Inheritance of Loss; her 2025 longlisted book is The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny.
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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsWhat happened after the longlist?
Six of the 13 novels advanced to the shortlist: Flashlight, The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny, Audition, The Rest of Our Lives, The Land in Winter, and Flesh. The Foundation’s shortlist announcement says the finalists were selected from 153 eligible works and describes settings spanning Hungary and Japan to Venice, New York, India, and England’s West Country. Those settings refer to the six finalists, not to a complete setting inventory for all 13 longlisted books.
David Szalay’s Flesh won the 2025 prize, announced at the London ceremony on 10 November. The Booker Prize Foundation records a £50,000 prize for the winner.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the 2025 longlist shows—and what it does not
The Foundation reported that the longlisted authors represented four continents and nine countries, and that two novels were debuts. These are figures published by the prize organization. The list also spans a notable difference in reported length, from Universality at 156 pages to The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny at over 650 pages.
The published longlist and prize announcements establish titles, publishers, eligibility dates, broad selection characteristics, finalists, and winner. They do not by themselves establish detailed plot summaries for all 13 books, comparative literary quality, reader ratings, current editions, prices, stock, or retailer availability. Check a publisher or bookseller for current edition and purchasing details.
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