The Book that Won the Booker Prize… and the book that should have

We appear to be living in a hyperconnected society where you know exactly where your colleague went for a holiday, who your neighbour is dating and even what your classmate from high school had for breakfast. Yet, we are more isolated than ever, with a growing number of people reporting that they have no close friendships and practically no emotional support. It was during the pandemic when physical isolation was imposed that many people, especially men, realised they did not have a safety net of emotional support either. This feeling of social isolation caused by the dearth of meaningful friendships has been dubbed the “male loneliness epidemic”.

The male loneliness epidemic is rooted in traditional patriarchal norms that equate vulnerability with weakness and the fact that male friendships tend to be transactional or superficial. Rather than addressing the causes of this friendship recession and attempting to foster healthy social connections, proponents of the manosphere like Andrew Tate make the situation worse blaming women for and feminism. Vulnerable men start believing in their own victimhood, and this leads to a vicious cycle where toxic masculinity is reinforced eventually leading to further alienation and isolation.

It is against this backdrop that the Booker Prize for 2026 was awarded to David Szalay’s novel, Flesh. The protagonist of the novel, István, is an emotionally detached working-class man from Hungary who migrates to London where he has a series of blue-collar jobs before acquiring (and eventually losing) wealth. Throughout the book István chooses not to create meaningful emotional connections with people. His dialogue is stilted, with “okay” or “it’s okay” being a typical response to any question or situation. Even his most intimate relationships are superficial, and driven entirely by the physical needs of his body.

Flesh does not romanticise the male loneliness epidemic. The isolation faced by István is because he lacks the ability to express emotion, leading to a life where physical and sexual impulses rather than conscious choice determines the course of his life. A book which should have sparked nuanced discussions on how men struggle to find connection and meaning, was quicky co-opted by divisive forces that romanticised István’s stunted emotional growth.

One other book which also made it to the Booker Longlist dealt with the male loneliness epidemic, though in a very different way. Maria Reva’s debut novel, Endling, follows three young women who work in the “mail order bride” industry which brings Western men to Ukraine in search of brides. The men who are a part of the “romance tour” are all victims of the male loneliness epidemic- they are reasonably well established professionally, yet struggle to form meaningful relationships with women back home. Not having found submissive women who are willing to marry them, they come to Ukraine in the hope of finding a women who is ‘uncontaminated by feminism’ and who will be happy to fill the role of “a maid in the parlour, a cook in the kitchen and a whore in the kitchen”*. While this is just one of the many issues the book talks about, by portraying the men as desperate and alienated individuals seeking a submissive companion, the author correctly diagnoses male entitlement and unrealistic expectations as the cause of the loneliness. 

Though the male loneliness epidemic is just one of the many social, political and economic issues that Endling deals with, by using dark, absurdist humour, the author creates the space to have a more nuanced discussion on the issue.

Neither women nor feminism is responsible for the male loneliness epidemic. On the contrary, the root cause of the epidemic is the patriarchal belief that men are entitled to special treatment, and the patriarchal expectation that men should not display emotional vulnerability. The only vaccine for the male loneliness is by redefining masculinity to include emotional openness and an active investment in relationships both sexual and platonic. Reading and understanding novels is one of the ways that we can get there.

Books referenced : 

Flesh by David Szalay, 2025

Endling by Maria Reva, 2025

* quote famously attributed to American model, Jerry Hall, who was apparently given that advice by her mother.