Lynch’s fifth novel, about a young woman trying to make sense of a collapsing society, was announced as the winner of the prestigious literary award at a glittering ceremony in London
Six books, three authors called Paul, one £50,000 prize. In the end, Paul Lynch has taken the spoils for his dystopian tale of a totalitarian Ireland – but it doesn’t feel like a winner that will stand the test of time, writes our chief book critic Martin Chilton