Booker Prize 2026

The 2026 longlist

Thirteen novels — the 'Booker Dozen' — chosen from 163 submissions and announced on 28 July 2026.

Chaired by Mary Beard, with Raymond Antrobus, Jarvis Cocker, Rebecca Liu and Patricia Lockwood.

1. 1

   The Shadow of the Object

   by Chloe Aridjis

   An encounter in a Mexico City hospital leads to a life-changing friendship.

2. 2

   Switzy

   by Emma Cline

   A wealthy, accomplished man travels to an assisted dying clinic in Switzerland.

3. 3

   Helen of Nowhere

   by Makenna Goodman

   The shortest book on the list: a disgraced professor tours an idyllic country house.

4. 4

   The End of Everything

   by M. John Harrison

   A post-apocalyptic novel set in a Kent coastal town.

5. 5

   The Disappearers

   by Marlon James

   Eight gay men in 1980s Kingston, Jamaica are targeted by a violent mob.

6. 6

   Black Bag

   by Luke Kennard

   An out-of-work actor is paid to sit silently inside a leather bag for an experiment.

7. 7

   The Renovation

   by Kenan Orhan

   A debut: a psychologist cares for her father in Italy as building work goes wrong.

8. 8

   May We Feed the King

   by Rebecca Perry

   A curator of historic buildings explores the life of an almost-forgotten medieval king.

9. 9

   The Palm House

   by Gwendoline Riley

   A London freelancer and her long friendship with a senior magazine editor.

10. 10

    The Things We Never Say

    by Elizabeth Strout

    A Massachusetts history teacher facing isolation before the 2024 US election.

11. 11

    John of John

    by Douglas Stuart

    A young gay man returns to his strict religious family on a remote Scottish island.

12. 12

    All Them Dogs

    by Djamel White

    A debut: a man returns to west Dublin after five years on the run.

13. 13

    The Vivisectors

    by Missouri Williams

    A graduate student in a decaying university city overrun by wild plants.