David Szalay (; born 1974 in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

) is a Hungarian-English writer.

Life

Szalay was born in Montreal in 1974 to a Canadian mother and a Hungarian father. His family then moved to Beirut. They were forced to leave Lebanon after the onset of the

Lebanese Civil War The Lebanese Civil War ( ) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 150,000 fatalities and led to the exodus of almost one million people from Lebanon. The religious diversity of the ...

. They then moved to London, where he attended

Sussex House School Sussex House School (commonly known as Sussex House), is a boys’ preparatory school located in Chelsea, London. Founded in 1952, the school occupies a house designed by Norman Shaw at 68 Cadogan Square, and since 1994 has operated as an inde ...

. Szalay studied at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

. After graduating, Szalay worked at various jobs in sales in London. He moved to Brussels, then to

Pécs Pécs ( , ; ; Slovak language, Slovak: ''Päťkostolie''; also known by #Name, alternative names) is List of cities and towns of Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, the fifth largest city in Hungary, on the slopes of the Mecsek mountains in the c ...

in Hungary to pursue his ambition of becoming a writer.

Career

Szalay has written a number of radio dramas for the BBC. His 2018 book of short stories ''Turbulence'' originated in a series of 15 minute programs for

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

. The twelve stories of ''Turbulence'' follow different people on flights around the world. It explores the

globalization Globalization is the process of increasing interdependence and integration among the economies, markets, societies, and cultures of different countries worldwide. This is made possible by the reduction of barriers to international trade, th ...

of family and friendship in the 21st century. He won the

Betty Trask Award The Betty Trask Prize and Awards are for first novels written by authors under the age of 35 who reside in a current or former Commonwealth nation. Each year the awards total at least , with normally one author receiving a larger prize amount ( ...

for his first novel, ''London and the South-East'', along with the

Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize The Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize is a British literary prize established in 1963 in tribute to Geoffrey Faber, founder and first Chairman of the publisher Faber & Faber. It recognises a single volume of poetry or fiction by a United Kingdom, Iri ...

. Since then he has written three other novels: ''Innocent'' (2009), ''Spring'' (2011), and ''Flesh'' (2025). A linked collection of short stories, '' All That Man Is'', was shortlisted for the

Man Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a prestigious literary award conferred each year for the best single work of sustained fiction written in the English language, wh ...

and won the

Gordon Burn Prize The Gordon Burn Prize was launched in 2013 as a vehicle by which "to reward fiction or non-fiction written in the English language, which in the opinion of the judges most successfully represents the spirit and sensibility of nowiki/>Gordon Burn ...

in 2016. ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British political and cultural news magazine. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving magazine in the world. ''The Spectator'' is politically conservative, and its principal subject a ...

'' said that "nobody captures the super-sadness of modern Europe as well as Szalay." ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'' questioned its structure and whether or not it qualifies as a

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

in the traditional sense: "does it in any sense work, as Jonathan Cape wants us to believe, as a novel? Yes, there's a thematic consistency that makes this more than a collection, and Szalay even throws in the odd narrative link (the 73-year-old, it transpires, is the 17-year-old's granddad). But still, a novel? I don’t think so." Szalay was included in ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are often names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * The Telegraph (Adelaide), ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaid ...

'' 2010 list of the top 20 British writers under 40, as well as the 2013 edition of the ''Granta'' Best of Young British Novelists.

Personal life

Szalay lives in Budapest with his wife and two children.

Bibliography

The categorization of his books as novels or not has sparked some debate, particularly for ''All That Man Is'' and ''Turbulence''. ''All That Man Is'' comprises nine distinct stories that weave a larger thematic picture. ''Turbulence'' is a collection of twelve loosely connected stories about different people with subtle appositeness undergirding the narrative progression. ''Flesh'', while episodic, closer exemplifies a conventional novel centered on a single protagonist. This resembles the style of his earlier releases

Books

*''London and the South-East'' (U.K edition by

Vintage Books Vintage Books is a trade paperback publishing imprint of Penguin Random House originally established by Alfred A. Knopf in 1954. The company was acquired by Random House in April 1960, and a British division was set up in 1990. After Random Ho ...

, 2009; U.S. edition by

Graywolf Press Graywolf Press is an independent, non-profit publisher located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Graywolf Press publishes fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. Graywolf Press collaborates with organizations such as the College of Saint Benedict, the Mel ...

, 2017) *''The Innocent'' (Vintage, 2010) *''Spring'' (Graywolf Press, 2012) *'' All That Man Is'' (Graywolf Press, 2016) *''

Turbulence In fluid dynamics, turbulence or turbulent flow is fluid motion characterized by chaotic changes in pressure and flow velocity. It is in contrast to laminar flow, which occurs when a fluid flows in parallel layers with no disruption between ...

'' (

Jonathan Cape Jonathan Cape is a British publishing firm headquartered in London and founded in 1921 by Herbert Jonathan Cape, who was head of the firm until his death. Cape and his business partner Wren Howard (1893–1968) set up the publishing house in ...

, 2018) *''

Flesh Flesh is any aggregation of soft tissues of an organism. Various multicellular organisms have soft tissues that may be called "flesh". In mammals, including humans, ''flesh'' encompasses muscles, fats and other loose connective tissues, ...

'' (Simon & Schuster, 2025)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Szalay, David 1974 births 20th-century British novelists 21st-century British novelists British male novelists Living people Writers from Montreal 20th-century British male writers 21st-century British male writers People educated at Sussex House School