Flesh

Flesh (2025) is a novel by David Szalay that follows one man's life from his teenage years in Hungary to wealth and loss in London. István, a quiet and isolated fifteen-year-old living with his mother, becomes involved with an older neighbour, an affair with lasting consequences. Told in spare episodes across decades, the novel follows him through military service, work as a bouncer and chauffeur in London and entry into a world of money, as he reacts to events more than he shapes them.

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Dua Lipa: “We're going to be talking about Flesh by David Szalay, my monthly read for October. And honestly, it's one of the most astonishing books I've ever read.”