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In the world of the Booker Prizes this week: Discover our new Monthly Spotlight; authors and translators recommend their favourite translated fiction; and the podcast dives into the IBP 2024 shortlist
Discover our Monthly Spotlight for May: Time’s Arrow by Martin Amis
Throughout May, and one year on from his death in May 2023, we’re celebrating Martin Amis’s Time’s Arrow, which is our latest Monthly Spotlight title.
Although one of the best-known writers of his generation, Amis was shortlisted for the Booker Prize just once, in 1991, for this highly inventive depiction of a Nazi war criminal whose life story is told in reverse, and which raises big questions about morality and destiny.
In a review of the novel, the New York Times said Amis had written ‘a devastatingly specific portrait of the Nazis' warped mentality’ in an ‘upside-down, backward world’.
Despite publishing 15 novels throughout his career, Amis, perhaps surprisingly, never bagged a Booker, or quite managed to shake off comparisons with his Booker Prize-winning father, Kingsley Amis.
In an essay for the Booker Prizes website, 2020 Booker judge Sameer Rahim asks why the big literary accolades eluded Amis. If you’d like to know more, you can read Sameer’s essay over on our Monthly Spotlight page, alongside an extract from the novel and a detailed reading guide. And don’t forget to enter our competition to win a copy of the book and a money-can’t-buy Booker Prize tote bag. Good luck, and happy reading!
The best translated fiction, according to the International Booker Prize 2024 nominees
We recently asked the authors and translators longlisted for the International Booker Prize 2024 to recommend their favourite works of global fiction that have been translated into English. With selections ranging from prize-nominated modern classics to lesser-known gems of translated literature, here are their essential recommendations – all of which make for perfect weekend reading.
The Booker Prize Podcast: The International Booker Prize 2024 shortlist (part 1)
With less than three weeks to go until the International Booker Prize 2024 winner is announced, now is the perfect moment to take a deep dive into this year’s shortlisted books. In the first of two special episodes, we’re exploring the three European titles on the list: Kairos, The Details, and What I’d Rather Not Think About. Tune in to hear Jo Hamya and James Walton share their insights into each of the books and uncover their common themes.
Reminded me of Time’s Arrow and Evolution 💎📚💎