"The End of Everything"a post-apocalyptic novel about AI wins the Booker Prize

The End of Everything“, enigmatic dystopian novel by the British writerM. John Harrison (practically unknown in Italy), the winner of the Booker Prizea book that reflects on fears related to artificial intelligencein a post-apocalyptic Britain. The novel will be published in Italy in 2027 by Mercurio with the title ‘The end of everything‘. Harrison, at 81, is it oldest writer to win the awardwhich a cash prize of £50,000 accompanies great visibility and an increase in sales.

For Harrison, veteran of sci-fi literary sceneis a first time in the shortlist of the award. A milestone that, according to critics, was long overdue. He surpassed the other authors in the running – Marlon James, Douglas Stuart, Elizabeth Strout, Luke Kennard e Rebecca Perry – whose works ranged from a queer epic set in 1980s Kingston to an academic satire in contemporary London. “The End of Everything” distinguished himself “both for extraordinarily expert writing and for great ambition”he declared at the press conference Mary Beardpresident of the jury.

“The end of everything” starts from “iGhetti”, mysterious objects that appeared after a catastrophe

Harrison’s thirteenth novel follows the events of Phillip Tennenta man who lives by scavenging along the beach, and his Aunt Marnie, a free-spirited woman with dementia. The story is set in the near future, along a windswept and invaded English coast mysterious objects known as “iGhetti”.
A catastrophe, the nature of which is not specified, pushes the characters into a dark post-apocalyptic world in which the European continent seems to have vanished.

The arrival of the “iGhetti” – capable of imitating human beings – recalls the dynamics linked to artificial intelligence. “One of the central points of the book is that, if or when such an apocalypse were to occur, it would be completely incomprehensible“Beard explained, adding that the work speaks directly to the current ‘moment.'”It is about the politics of today, seen through the lens of the future“Beard added.

Brexit, Covid and AI

Through dream episodesthis dense and concise novel – just 198 pages – refers to Brexit, the Covid pandemic and the irruption of technology into daily life. As often happens in Harrison’s writing – singular and capable of overcoming the boundaries of genres – the plot matters less than the atmosphere; the author’s elliptical and poetic style also accentuates the sense of progressive collapse.

“Current events provided the themes and satire“, said Harrison about his book “What happens when all our expectations and explanations about the world turn into one continuous disaster, and yet we still have to manage to live?”. The author said he was inspired by financial crisis of 2008with the intention of writing a novel about “failure of the ability to explain reality within society“.

M. John Harrison, a science fiction veteran

Born in Rugby, England, in 1945, Harrison is the author of numerous science fiction books, including the saga of ‘Viriconium‘ (1971-1984) e ‘Light‘ (2002) – first volume of the trilogy ‘The Kefahuchi Tract‘ – works considered milestones of the genre. Little known to the general public outside the circle of science fiction enthusiasts, he is practically unknown in Italy, where three of his novels – ‘The sunken lands resurface’, ‘I would like to be here’ and ‘The course of the heart‘ – were published by Mercurio and Atlantide and, in the past, in the ‘Urania’ series by Mondadori.

Il artificial intelligence theme was at the center of the jury’s reflections during the entire selection process, which led to narrowing the field from 163 candidate works to one final shortlist of six novels. Beard highlighted how, in the case of this book, AI concerns were “particularly relevant“.

The role of AI in the next Booker Prizes

In the coming years, Beard noted, the award jury will necessarily have to question the role of AI in publishing and writing. The prize, which celebrates the best work of wide-ranging fiction written in English by authors of any nationality and published in the last year, was awarded last year to the British-Hungarian writer David Szalay for “In the Flesh”published by Adelphi and a sales success also in Italy.