David Szalay’s Flesh (2025) is a work of literary fiction that follows the life of its protagonist, István, from his difficult adolescence in post-communist Hungary to his rise and fall in the elite circles of London. The narrative traces István’s journey as he navigates a world where his capacity for violence becomes his primary asset—first as a soldier in Iraq, then as a bodyguard for the super-rich, and finally as a wealthy property developer. A sweeping, decades-spanning novel, Flesh stands as a stark examination of the vagaries of ambition, class, and alienation. The book explores themes such as The Transactional Nature of Human Relationships, Masculinity as a Defense Against Powerlessness, and The Illusion of Social Mobility. 

David Szalay is a critically acclaimed author whose previous novel, All That Man Is (2016), was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. He is known for his precise, unsentimental prose and his focus on the complexities of modern masculinity. Flesh continues this exploration against the backdrop of significant historical moments, including the socioeconomic upheaval of 1990s Eastern Europe, the post-9/11 boom in the private security industry, and the COVID-19 pandemic. The novel paints a portrait of a man shaped by his environment, where personal relationships are forms of exchange and social status is a precarious performance.

This guide refers to the 2025 Scribner hardcover edition.

Content Warning: The source text and this guide feature depictions of sexual content, child sexual abuse, graphic violence, substance use and addiction, bullying, physical and emotional abuse, mental illness, suicidal ideation, and death.

Plot Summary

At age 15, István moves to a new town with his mother and struggles to make friends. He eventually befriends another boy who arranges a sexual encounter for him with a local girl, but because István is overcome with anxiety, he is unable to perform, and the girl later tells his friend that István was not sexy. The humiliation costs István his only friendship, leaving him isolated. 

At his mother’s insistence, he begins helping an older neighbor with her shopping, as her husband has a heart condition and cannot exert himself. The woman develops an affection for István, then strategically grooms him, escalating their relationship from a chaste kiss to a sexual dalliance, which the vast difference in their ages renders into a form of abuse. She is 42 and becomes his first sexual partner, and István eventually develops strong feelings for her and tells her that he loves her. At this point, she coldly rejects him, insisting that she loves her husband. Devastated, a fixated István begins stalking her. 

One evening, he decides to confront her at her apartment, but her husband answers the door and refuses to let the boy inside. In the ensuing scuffle on the landing, the husband falls down the stairs, hits his head on a metal handrail, and dies. István flees but is arrested later that night. At the police station, he learns that the man is dead, and because he cannot recall his exact intentions during the fight, he begins to doubt whether the death was truly an accident.

Years later, after his release from a young offenders’ institution, István reconnects with an acquaintance named Ödön, who hires him for protection during smuggling runs from Croatia that likely involve heroin. The work is lucrative but short-lived, as Ödön soon disappears. 

István then grows close to Noémi, his uncle’s stepdaughter, and falls in love with her. He invites her on a day trip to Lake Balaton, where he persuades her to stay overnight in a hotel. After they share a passionate kiss on a restaurant terrace, she rejects his further advances in their shared twin room, revealing that she is in a relationship with an older English manager. Heartbroken and with no job prospects, István joins the army.

Following a five-year stint in the army, which included a tour in Iraq, István returns to Hungary with his friends, Norbi and Balázs. They celebrate with a wild night in Budapest, fueled by speed and alcohol, and flirt with two Norwegian women. The evening culminates in a sexual encounter with one of the Norwegian women in a Jacuzzi. 

Back in his hometown, István feels alienated from the world around him and is haunted by the violent death of his friend, Riki, in an improvised explosive device (IED) explosion, a trauma that he cannot bring himself to discuss with his mother. She helps him get a monotonous warehouse job at a winery. One day, overwhelmed by frustration, he punches a door and breaks his hand. At the hospital, he is treated by a former schoolmate who is now a successful doctor, and this encounter deepens his sense of failure. His mother convinces him to see a therapist, with whom he finally discusses Riki’s death. The therapist prescribes an antidepressant that helps his mood to stabilize.

István moves to London and works as a bouncer at a strip club. One night, after he has been in London for about two years, he saves a wealthy older man named Mervyn from a mugging. Mervyn runs a private security agency and takes István under his wing. He lends him money for a close-protection course, buys him a suit, and teaches him how to conduct himself in elite circles. István becomes a successful bodyguard, repays Mervyn, and moves into a modern apartment.

He takes a full-time job as a security driver for a wealthy couple, Karl and Helen Nyman, and lives in a small apartment in their Cheyne Walk mansion. With Karl often away, István and Helen begin a sexual affair. The relationship deepens after he tells her about his past trauma and therapy. At one point, they fear that one of their romantic interludes at the pool is discovered by Helen’s son, Thomas, but the boy never says anything about the matter.

When Karl’s colon cancer returns, he travels to a clinic in Germany for treatment. Helen invites István to join her in Munich, and he stays in her hotel suite. Their bond strengthens, but Karl’s sister, Mathilde, becomes suspicious of their relationship after finding István’s belongings in Helen’s suite.

Quite a few years later, Karl has died, and István and Helen are now married with a seven-year-old son, Jacob. They live primarily at the Nymans’ country estate, Ayot St. Peter. Helen’s son from her first marriage, Thomas, is now a university student who openly resents István, believing that István only married Helen for her money. When István’s mother visits, she shrewdly learns that Karl left his entire fortune in a trust for Thomas, to be inherited when he turns 25. Helen currently acts as trustee but was left with nothing for herself. István’s mother warns him that his financial security is precarious.

As the years go by, István becomes a successful property developer, financing his projects with loans from the Nyman trust. Now, his largest project, a development in Rainham, is jeopardized by a planning delay. To expedite the process, he follows the advice of his project finance lawyer, Roddy, and lobbies a government minister at a fundraiser, then pointedly makes a large donation to the man’s political party. However, this connection is exposed by a newspaper, creating a scandal that threatens his outside investors. To save the project, he needs a final, massive loan from Thomas’s trust. The trust’s lawyer, who is swayed by bribery, agrees to loan István the money but insists that Thomas, who is now an adult, must be informed of all the loans, even if he does not yet have the legal standing to block this action. Helen breaks the news to Thomas, who is furious with her and István. The conflict escalates from a private confrontation at Christmas to a shouting match at a public art gallery event, where a drunken Thomas loudly accuses István and Helen of stealing his inheritance. Provoked, István violently attacks Thomas and is arrested for assault. The public scandal destroys the Rainham project, and Helen leaves to stay with a friend.

In the aftermath, István avoids prison but receives a large fine and is ordered into therapy. He and Jacob live at Ayot St. Peter. When Jacob is bullied at school and grows terrified of attending, István wants Jacob to stand up for himself, while Helen thinks that he should change schools. However, the issue is tabled when schools are closed during a national lockdown that is implied to be caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. A few days before the school is set to reopen, Helen is driving Jacob on an errand when she swerves to avoid a fox and crashes into a van. The narrative later reveals that Jacob is killed in the crash, while Helen lapses into a coma.

The narrative shifts forward in time. István visits Helen at a hospital in Cambridge; she is in a long-term comatose state with little hope of recovery. István, who is now living at the country estate, succumbs to alcohol addiction and begins a brief but cruel and self-destructive affair with the housekeeper, Mrs. Szymanski; the relationship is characterized by mutual self-hatred. Meanwhile, István’s mother manages the estate and informs him that Thomas will inherit the entire trust in less than a year, unless he were to die. 

One day, upon leaving the hospital, István sees Thomas and his driver; he follows Thomas’s vehicle to a mews house in London, then watches through a window as Thomas injects heroin and overdoses. István is frozen with indecision for several minutes as he watches Thomas begin to asphyxiate, but at the last moment, he calls an ambulance. Thomas survives but refuses to see István at the hospital.

Years later, István is back in his Hungarian hometown. The narrative reveals that after inheriting the trust, Thomas successfully sued István for the full repayment of the loans, bankrupting him. István now lives with his mother in their old apartment in Hungary and works as a security guard. He has a year-long affair with Bori, a local bartender, and reveals to her that both Helen and Jacob died as a result of the car accident. After his mother dies in her sleep, István is left to live a quiet, solitary life.