Booker Prize-winning author David Szalay has found himself at the centre of speculation about authorial inspiration and homage, as readers of his novel Flesh have questioned whether a film by Stanley Kubrick inspired the book almost “beat for beat”.
The sixth novel by Canadian-Hungarian writer Szalay, Flesh was released in March 2025. It follows a young working-class man called István, who over the course of his life rises up the ranks from poverty at home in Hungary to sitting among London’s elite.
