Booker Prize 2015: A bluffer’s guide

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

Who? Hawaiian author Yanagihara grew up living in motels and has said this book (her second) might be her last.

Do say: “Yanagihara enters into the tradition of the taught, tense, introspective American novel.”

Don’t say: “If it’s a ‘little’ life, why the hell is it 720 pages long?”

A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James

Who? This is Jamaican novelist James’s third novel; he’s the first Jamaican novelist to be nominated for the Booker.

Do say: “The cacophony of voices adds to the mystery and confusion around the identity of Bob Marley’s would-be assassin.”

Don’t say: “I’d rather just listen to some Bob Marley, ta.”

Satin Island by Tom McCarthy

Who? McCarthy is a Londoner who grew up in Greenwich, attended Dulwich College and then Oxford, and once worked as a nude model in Prague.

Do say: “Stick with it: picking apart the various complex strands and codes of the narrative is worth the mental energy.”

Don’t say: “So, er, did you get it?”

The Fishermen by Chigozie Obioma

Who? The Fisherman is the Nigerian writer’s first novel, which he started while studying in Cyprus. He cites Tess of the D’Urbervilles, Lolita and Arrow of God, by fellow Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe as influences.

Do say: “The book hangs on the tension between the fear of the prophecy that sets up the novel, and the love that the brothers feel for each other in spite of what it dictates for their lives.”

Don’t say: “Which brother is your fave? I had such a thing for Benjamin.”

A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler

Who? Tyler is a 73-year old American and Pulitzer Prize-winner who has written 20 novels.

Do say: “Tyler shows how the domestic and familial contains the potential for fraught and complex drama.”

Don’t say: “So it’s like Hollyoaks?”

The Year of the Runaways by Sunjeev Sahota

Who? Sahota studied mathematics and didn’t read a novel until he was 18. He started with Midnight’s Children and didn’t stop until he’d written his own.

Do say: “Sahota considers both the micro and macro difficulties encountered by Indian immigrants in a millennial Britain — pretty prescient, considering the current political climate.”

Don’t say: “Bet Farage won’t like it, HA HA HA HA.”

Convincing? Odds on no one else has read them either, so how will they know?

@phoebeluckhurst