Booker Prize 2026

The bookies’ odds for the Booker Prize shortlist this year, are generally along these lines:

1. The Disappearers 6/4
2. John of John 7/2
3. May We Feed the King 4/1
4. The End of Everything 4/1
5. The Things We Never Say 11/2
6. Black Bag 6/1

After a few weeks trying to work through them all, I realise my preferences are very nearly the complete opposite:

1. Black Bag 😃
2. May We Feed the King 🙂
3. The Things We Never Say 😐
4. The End of Everything ☹️
5. John of John 😔
6. The Disappearers 😩

Notably after thinking over them all, it would appear that my preferences are in the order of how positive they are. The more positive (even amusing) are at the top of my list, and the darker, more miserable entries at the bottom.

I have a funny feeling that misery often wins the day in literature.

[Update after the prize went to ‘The End of Everything’. I was right about the misery. I was wrong with my favourite. Everyone was wrong. But it doesn’t seem I was alone in being a little ‘baffled’ by the plot.]