The Booker Prize Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Back to School with Ian McEwan's Atonement Sep 07, 2023

Show notes

🚨 An advance warning that this episode features spoilers for Atonement.

September is here, which means it's the start of another academic year. So get out your brand new stationery and settle down as we head back to school... no polyester uniforms or exams though, don't worry. This week, we're taking a look at Booker-nominated books that feature on school syllabuses in the UK and, particularly, we're diving into Ian McEwan's Atonement. Shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2001, the novel explores how a young girl’s imagination runs riot with far-reaching and devastating consequences.

In this episode Jo and James discuss:

Their favourite Booker-nominated books that feature on school syllabuses
A brief history of Ian McEwan's writing career
The plot of Atonement
The characters and themes of the novel
How Joe Wright's film adaptation of Atonement compares to the books
The Booker Clinic: books to help quell homesickness

Reading list:

Atonement by Ian McEwan
Amsterdam by Ian McEwan
Joseph Andrews by Henry Fielding
A Handful of Dust by Evelyn Waugh
A Month in the Country by J. L. Carr
The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
Saturday by Ian McEwan
Spies by Michael Frayn
Brick Lane by Monica Ali
Waterland by Graham Swift
Love and Summer by William Trevor
Pigeon English by Stephen Kelman
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey
Oxygen by Andrew Miller
number9dream by David Mitchell
Hotel World by Ali Smith
Now We Shall Be Entirely Free by Andrew Miller
The Dark Room by Rachel Seiffert
Black Dogs by Ian McEwan
On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan
Enduring Love by Ian McEwan

Further Resources:

A full transcript of the episode is available at our website.

Follow The Booker Prize Podcast so you never miss an episode. Visit http://thebookerprizes.com/podcast to find out more about us, and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Tiktok @thebookerprizes.

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Why you should read The Elected Member by Bernice Rubens Aug 31, 2023

Show notes

In 1970, when the Booker Prize was still in its infancy (its second year running, in fact), the prize was awarded to Bernice Rubens. Rubens was the first woman to win the award and is still the only Welsh person to ever win the prize. 2023 marks the centenary of Rubens' birth so, this week, we're taking a closer look at The Elected Member – a piercing novel that explores what happens to a respectable, close-knit Jewish family when their prodigious son becomes a middle-aged drug addict.

In this episode Jo and James:

Ponder the weight of being the eldest child
Share a brief biography of Bernice Rubens
Give a slightly spoiler-y summary of The Elected Member
Discuss whether parental expectation can turn from encouragement to abuse
Consider how love can be damaging
Wonder why Bernice Rubens has fallen off the radar
Decide who should read The Elected Member

Reading list:

The Elected Member by Bernice Rubens
Bruno's Dream by Iris Murdoch
Mrs Eckdorf in O'Neill's Hotel by William Trevor
Eva Trout by Elizabeth Bowen
The French Lieutenant's Woman by John Fowles
When I Grow Up by Bernice Rubens
The Old Devils by Kingsley Amis
In Transit by Brigid Brophy
The Fire-Dwellers by Margaret Laurence
The Hungry Grass by Richard Power
Loitering with Intent by Muriel Spark

A full transcript of the episode is available at our website.

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The Sellout: The first American novel to win the Booker Prize Aug 24, 2023

Show notes

In 2014, the Booker Prize broadened its submission rules to allow books from any nationality, as long as they were written in English and published in the UK. This change in eligibility led to worries around whether American novels would dominate the award's nominations, but it wasn't until 2016 when Paul Beatty scooped the prize with The Sellout that the prize went to an author from the States. The Sellout is a biting satire on race relations told through its protagonist, who is on trial for trying to reinstate slavery and segregation – and this week on the podcast, we're revisiting the story.

In this episode Jo and James:

Consider what the inclusion of American authors and novels has meant for the Booker Prize
Share a brief biography of Paul Beatty
Give a slightly spoiler-y summary of The Sellout
Discuss whether the novel is an on-point laugh-a-minute satire or a relentlessly nihilistic trudge
Try to get to the bottom of what Paul Beatty is trying to say through this novel
Chat about whether the question of who something is for can really be answered authentically
Suggest who should read The Sellout

Reading list:

The White Boy Shuffle
Tuff
Hokum: An Anthology of African-American Humor
Slumberland
The Sellout

Further resources:

A full transcript of the episode is available at our website.

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An Interview with 2015 Booker Prize Winner Marlon James Aug 17, 2023

Show notes

Cast your minds back to the heady days of 2015... It's early autumn and Hanya Yanagihara's A Little Life is hotly-tipped to scoop the Booker Prize but the judges award that year's prize to A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James – an epic novel inspired by the true story of an attempted assassination attempt on Bob Marley. This week, Marlon James joins Jo and James on the podcast to tell us how winning the Booker Prize changed his life, his writing, and what he's working on next.

In this episode Jo and James speak to Marlon about:

Why Marlon didn't think he was going to win the Booker Prize
How he spent his prize money
The reception A Brief History of Seven Killings received in Marlon's home country, Jamaica, versus further afield
Get Millie Black, the new original HBO / Channel 4 crime drama he's working on
TikTok and why reading is not the same as identifying as a reader
How he loves writing but hates coming up with ideas for new work
The new novel he's writing

Reading list:

Further resources:

Marlon and Jake Read Dead People

A 10th anniversary edition of A Brief History of Seven Killings will be published, with a new introduction, in June 2024.

A full transcript of the episode is available at our website.

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Our August Book of the Month: Loitering with Intent by Muriel Spark Aug 09, 2023

Show notes

Muriel Spark was a prolific poet and novelist who was nominated for the Booker Prize three times over the course of her writing career. In 1981, Spark's Loitering with Intent was shortlisted for the prize alongside that year's eventual winner Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie. The novel is a wonderfully gossipy and entertaining literary joyride which sees a would-be novelist takes inspiration from her life only to find the tables are mysteriously turned – and it's our August Book of the Month.

In this episode Jo and James:

Continue getting to know each other by chatting about the life event James would start his memoir with and Jo's favourite albums of all time
Share a brief biography of Muriel Spark
Give a slightly spoiler-y account of what happens in Loitering with Intent
Discuss how much of Muriel Spark's writing may be influenced or based on her own life
Consider why Muriel Spark is not as widely read now as she once was
Who should read Loitering with Intent

Reading list:

Loitering with Intent by Muriel Spark
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark
The Driver's Seat by Muriel Spark
The Public Image by Muriel Spark
The Ballad of Peckham Rye by Muriel Spark
Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
The Comfort of Strangers by Ian McEwan

A full transcript of the episode is available at our website.

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The Booker Prize 2023: Longlist Reaction Aug 03, 2023

Show notes

This week, we're joined by Frederick Studemann, literary editor of the FT, to bring you a Booker Prize longlist reaction hot off the press. Listen in as Fred, James and Jo share their opinions of this year's longlist as a whole, and give you a flavour of each of the 13 books that make up this year's Booker Dozen: it's speed dating meets the Booker Prize.

Books discussed in this episode:

A full transcript of the episode is available at our website.

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The Strange Case of Vernon God Little Jul 27, 2023

Show notes

What exactly is “a Booker book”? Some might jump to a specific kind of high-minded, serious fiction, while others argue for a broader definition inclusive of more mainstream titles. Over the years, the pendulum has swung between the two and in 2003, DBC Pierre's debut, Vernon God Little, was awarded the prize. In this episode, we take a closer look at the novel and why it was an unexpected winner.

In this episode, Jo and James talk about:

Their childhood reading inspirations
A brief – and slightly spoiler-y – summary of Vernon God Little
The reaction to its 2003 Man Booker Prize win
The author behind the novel, DBC Pierre
Whether Vernon God Little stands up to reading 20 years after its release
Books to read after reading Vernon God Little

Books and authors discussed in this episode:

Matilda by Roald Dahl
Rudyard Kipling
Charles Dickens
Vladimir Nabokov
Virginia Woolf
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
The ‘His Dark Materials’ trilogy by Philip Pullman
The Moomins books by Tove Jansson
Hotel du Lac by Anita Brookner
Notes on a Scandal by Zoë Heller
Brick Lane by Monica Ali
Schopenhauer's Telescope by Gerard Donovan
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee
The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey
The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
Us by David Nicholls
The Patrick Melrose novels by Edward St. Aubyn
Burnt Sugar by Avni Doshi
Philip Larkin

A full transcript of the episode is available at our website.

If you've got a problem you'd like some literary help with, email us at contactus@bookerprizefoundation.org using the subject line “The Booker Clinic”.

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Summer Special: The Booker Prizes Does Love Island Jul 20, 2023

Show notes

The sun is shining, the sea is glistening and we're heading off to Booker Island – our very own version of Love Island. This week we're pairing up fictional characters from novels in the Booker archive, so tune in to find out who's coupled up, who's getting mugged off and who's getting dumped in our quest to find the ultimate literary romantic couple.

Books discussed in this episode:

Notes on a Scandal by Zoë Heller
The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch
Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
Atonement by Ian McEwan
The Sellout by Paul Beatty
On Beauty by Zadie Smith
Us by David Nicholls
Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart
The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
Any Human Heart by William Boyd
G by John Berger
Mother's Milk by Edward St Aubyn
Normal People by Sally Rooney

A full transcript of the episode is available on our website.

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Why The Amber Spyglass is the only children’s book nominated for The Booker Prize Jul 13, 2023

Show notes

Philip Pullman’s The Amber Spyglass is the third and concluding volume of the epic His Dark Materials trilogy – and might just be the only children’s book ever nominated for The Booker Prize. The story follows the journey of Lyra – a young girl destined to bring about unfathomable change in her world and beyond. It was longlisted for The Booker Prize in 2001, alongside Ian McEwan’s Atonement, David Mitchell’s number9dream and that year’s winner, Peter Carey’s True History of the Kelly Gang.

In this episode, Jo and James talk about:

The animal forms their daemons would take
A brief – and slightly spoiler-y – summary of what happens in The Amber Spyglass, as well as the previous books in the trilogy
Whether The Amber Spyglass is really a children's book
The literature that has inspired His Dark Materials
Whether more children's books should be in contention for The Booker Prize
The Booker Clinic: Books to rediscover the joys of reading

Books discussed in this episode:

Paradise Lost by John Milton
Songs of Innocence and Experience by William Blake
The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
The Iliad and The Odyssey by Homer
Swann's Way by Marcel Proust
A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket
The books of Agatha Christie
The Silver Sword by Ian Serraillier
Stardust by Neil Gaiman
The books of Raymond Chandler
Four Bare Legs in a Bed by Helen Simpson
The Patrick Melrose novels by Edward St. Aubyn

A full transcript of the episode is available on our website here.

If you've got a problem you'd like some literary help with, email us at contactus@bookerprizefoundation.org using the subject line “The Booker Clinic”.

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Introducing July's Book of the Month: The Vegetarian by Han Kang Jul 06, 2023

Show notes

Warning: this episode contains references to suicide.

The Vegetarian, an International Booker Prize winner and the first of Han Kang's books to be translated into English, explores shame, desire and our faltering attempts to understand each other. In 2016, the International Booker Prize moved from a bi-annual award recognising an author's body of work to a prize that celebrated an individual book translated into English, giving its author and translator equal billing – The Vegetarian was the first novel to win the revamped prize, and this month we're revisiting the story to explore it more deeply.

In this episode Jo and James chat about:

Jo and James' best and worst ever meals, spurred on by the omnipresence of food throughout The Vegetarian
A slightly spoiler-y account of what happens in the novel and whether it's about Korean society and the pressures faced by women living under the patriarchy... even though the author has stressed that this isn’t the case
Whether Yeong-hye, the book's protagonist, is “mad” or not
The nuances of translating fiction, including the controversy that riled people up to such an extent that it was dubbed “Han Kang-gate”
Who should read The Vegetarian
The Booker Clinic: a segment where we recommend books in response to listeners' dilemmas. This week: books to ease your guilt if you're conducting an illicit affair

Books discussed in this episode:

The Vegetarian by Han Kang
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy
The Stranger by Albert Camus
The Maples Stories by John Updike
Heartburn by Nora Ephron
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

Further resources:

A full transcript of the conversation is available on our website here.

If you've got a problem you'd like some literary help with, email us at contactus@bookerprizefoundation.org using the subject line “The Booker Clinic”.

Follow The Booker Prize Podcast so you never miss an episode. Visit https://thebookerprizes.com/podcast to find out more, and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Tiktok @thebookerprizes.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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