Orbital by Samantha Harvey has been named the winner of the Booker Prize 2024. The winner was announced by Chair of the judges, Edmund de Waal, at a ceremony held at Old Billingsgate in London. Harvey receives £50,000 and a trophy, which was presented to her by Paul Lynch, winner of the Booker Prize 2023.
Harvey’s novel takes place over a single day in the life of six astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station. Compact yet beautifully expansive, Orbital invites us to observe Earth’s splendour, whilst reflecting on the individual and collective value of every human life.
Chair of the judges, Edmund de Waal, describes the winner as “a book about a wounded world”, adding that the panel’s “unanimity about Orbital recognises its beauty and ambition”.