David Szalay in conversation with Katja de Bruin

David Szalay is a Hungarian-English writer. Previously published works include All That Man Is, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, and Turbulence.

About Flesh
The life of Hungarian István begins in an apartment complex in the 1980s and takes him through the trenches of Iraq, the back rooms of London nightclubs, and the marble halls of the super-rich. Time and again, he finds himself at a crossroads, never choosing a direction himself. From young lover to soldier, from bouncer to bodyguard, from husband to widower, Flesh is the portrait of a man propelled through life, powerless against his desires, his past, and the randomness that shapes him.
A beautiful novel about a man overtaken by life, rarely the instigator, seemingly passive and yet compelling from beginning to end.