Overview

• The shortlist features Kiran Desai, David Szalay, Andrew Miller, Ben Markovits, Susan Choi and Katie Kitamura, announced at London’s Southbank Centre.
• Desai is shortlisted for The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny, her first novel since her 2006 Booker win, which at nearly 700 pages is the longest on the list and is seen as a favorite.
• This year includes no debut novels, with half the finalists American, reflecting the prize’s broadened eligibility since 2014.
• The judging panel is chaired by Roddy Doyle with Sarah Jessica Parker, Chris Power, Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ and Kiley Reid; Doyle called the selections “brilliantly human” as Parker described the cuts as “real agony.”
• Judges read 153 submissions and settled on the six after an approximately four-hour meeting, with the £50,000 winner to be announced on 10 November in London.