The past 12 months have cemented Percival Everett’s position as one of the great literary novelists of our time. The publication of James, named the Fiction Book of the Year, was met with universal critical acclaim and Salman Rushdie proclaimed it his “favourite novel” of the year.

Heralded as a “modern classic” by our judges, James looks set to take its place in the canon of Western literature and is already being studied in schools alongside Mark Twain’s original. It will endure as a testament to the power of language, freedom and familial love. Six of Everett’s backlist titles were republished alongside James by Picador in 2024, some reaching British readers for the first time.

As well as celebrating an Oscar win for American Fiction, the film adaptation of his novel Erasure, Everett embarked on an inaugural UK tour and celebrated his first British bestseller with James – 2024 was undoubtedly Everett’s year.