Flesh

Hardcover

Flesh (2025) by David Szalay is a Booker Prize-winning literary novel detailing the life of István, a Hungarian man whose journey from a traumatic, isolated adolescence in post-communist Hungary leads him into the world of brutal violence and eventually, extreme wealth within London's elite. The story follows his impulsive, often sordid, physical relationships and his work as a security guard/bodyguard, reflecting on alienation and modern masculinity through a detached, episodic, and sparse narrative style.