Black Bag

Longlisted for the 2026 Booker Prize, Luke Kennard’s Black Bag is an audacious, warped campus novel that serves as a blistering investigation into masculinity, modern loneliness, and the absurdity of contemporary life.

About the Book: When a penniless, out-of-work actor accepts a bizarre gig from Dr. Blend—a university professor conducting a psychological experiment—he finds himself zipped into an oversized bag, sitting silently at the back of a lecture hall throughout an entire autumn term. It’s a job he accepts out of desperation, but the consequences are anything but predictable.

As the experiment unfolds, a professor of post-humanism begins to develop her own radical research questions: specifically, is it possible to fall in love with someone secreted away inside a black bag? Meanwhile, the actor's flatmate sees the situation as a goldmine, hatching schemes to monetize the performance. Blazingly funny, off-kilter, and profoundly humane, Black Bag is a firework of a novel that defies easy categorization.

Key Features & Benefits:

• Award-Recognized Fiction: A highly acclaimed title, officially longlisted for the prestigious 2026 Booker Prize.

• Audacious Premise: A wildly original, satirical setup that skewers academic culture, modern employment, and human behavior.

• Multi-Layered Narrative: Seamlessly functions as a campus novel, a biting social commentary on the crisis of masculinity, and an unconventional, tender love story.

• Distinctive Voice: Written by Luke Kennard, known for his sharp wit, surreal humor, and deep compassion for his flawed characters.