Hungarian-British writer David Szalay wins the prestigious Booker Prize for his novel “Flesh” (Photo: David Parry/Booker Prize Foundation)

“Flesh”, Szalay’s sixth novel, tells the story of István, a poor Hungarian boy who migrates to England and later becomes part of London’s upper class. The book explores themes of gender, class, migration, trauma, and power. Panel chair Roddy Doyle, who won the prize in 1993, describes “Flesh” as “a dark book in many ways”, but “a joy to read.”

Accepting the award, Szalay said, "This wasn't necessarily a very easy book to write. I started on it just after abandoning another novel. So there was a very great sense of pressure, as you might imagine, to make this book good, because I think while it might be okay to abandon one novel, to abandon two would be quite difficult for me to deal with psychologically."

He said that he didn't always cope that well with the pressure, adding that "I didn't always cope that graciously and that wisely with it."

The prize winner receives a stipend of 50,000 GBP. Szalay was shortlisted for the prize in 2016, for his novel “All That Man Is”.

Founded in the UK in 1969, the Booker Prize is the world’s most important award for a single work of fiction. Each year, the prize is awarded to what is, in the opinion of the judges, the best sustained work of fiction written in English and published in the UK or Ireland. Last year, Samantha Harvey won with “Orbital,” a novel set aboard the International Space Station.