'Baffling but brilliant' post-apocalyptic novel The End of Everything wins Booker Prize

Author M John Harrison has become the oldest ever winner of the Booker Prize, picking up the prestigious literary award for his post-apocalyptic novel The End of Everything. Harrison, 81, who has built a cult following over his 60-year career, was named the winner of the £50,000 prize at a ceremony in London on Monday.

The End of Everything is set in the years after a mysterious catastrophe that caused British society as we know it to collapse. It has divided opinion among readers, and was described as "bleak but brilliant" and "dreamlike and baffling" by one critic.

Dame Mary Beard, who chaired the Booker judges, said: "It's a challenging read, but some of the best fiction is challenging." Dame Mary added: "It's a book that turns you upside down, raises a wry smile – and surprisingly, given the subject matter, leaves you with a twinge of optimism." Harrison began writing in the 1960s and has published 13 novels, five short story collections and an "anti-memoir". He has now surpassed Margaret Atwood as the oldest ever Booker winner.