Some big names missing from a final six that includes the largest number of female authors in the fiction prize’s history

This year's six-book shortlist includes five women authors—the largest number of women in the prizes 55-year history—and two Americans: Percival Everett and Rachel Kushner. The winner will be announced on November 12.

Announcing the news at Somerset House, Edmund de Waal, chair of the 2024 judges, insisted that the books were not selected for the “issues” they tackled, though he did acknowledge that they all grappled with ideas of identity and the “fault lines of our times”.

Samantha Harvey was the only British writer to make the shortlist with her "bewitching" novella "Orbital", which follows the lives of a group of astronauts on the International Space Station, said Allfree.

Canadian Anne Michaels, known for her poetry and 1996 novel Fugitive Pieces, is shortlisted for Held, described on the official Booker Prize website as "a narrative that spans four generations, moments of connection and consequence ignite and re-ignite as the century unfolds".

Only one man has made the Booker Prize shortlist – a year after the award was criticised for featuring more men called Paul than women.

Booker Prize judge Sara Collins has said this year’s shortlist which features the most women in its 55-year history is a “wonderful, genuine surprise”. Collins, who is best known for writing The Confessions Of Frannie Langton,