It must be Ian McEwan’s year. Days after the film adaptation of his bestselling book Atonement opened to favourable reviews, his latest novel, On Chesil Beach, was shortlisted for the prestigious 2007 Man Booker Prize award.

But McEwan, one of six authors competing for the £50,000 literary award, faces stiff competition from an unknown New Zealand writer, Lloyd Jones, whose work, Mister Pip, is the favourite to win.

There has been controversy surrounding McEwan’s tale of thwarted love, with some critics claiming that the 166-page work is too insubstantial to be categorised as a “novel”.

When the longlist was announced a few weeks ago, the bookmaker William Hill had named Jones, 52, as the 20-1 outsider for his tale set on a remote Pacific island.

Great expectations for the writer from nowhere

Andrew Holgate talks to Lloyd Jones the surprise favourite who could pip Ian McEwan to the prestigious prize

Background

• The tide that runs through the Booker

• Unknown has great Booker expectations

• No certainties as judges pick interesting list

• McEwan could be pipped to Booker

• 13 novels make Booker’s dozen

Background

• On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan

• Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones

• The Gathering by Anne Enright

• The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid

• Darkmans by Nicola Barker

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• News and reviews on our special Man Booker page

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It has now slashed the odds to make him the 2-1 favourite ahead of McEwan at 5-2.

Jones, who worked in journalism and marketing before setting up a publishing business, said of his listing: “It feels great. It gives the book a much bigger profile in the northern hemisphere. Back home, it will mean quite a bit.”

Graham Sharpe, of William Hill, said: “From our point of view it’s a two-horse race. We have seen an unprecedented gamble on this virtually unknown writer. In a quarter of a century of Booker betting, I cannot recall as spectacular a gamble before and we could be looking at our first six-figure payout in Booker history.” Mr Sharpe said that some punters were betting on a New Zealand “double” — because the country’s rugby team was the 7-2 favourite to win the Rugby World Cup.

The competition between the two authors for the Booker is such that Ladbrokes has tipped On Chesil Beach as the 6-4 favourite to win, with Master Pip in second place at 4-1.

Nick Weinberg, of Ladbrokes, said: “The furore surrounding On Chesil Beach and whether it should have made the shortlist hasn’t put off the punters. A McEwan win will mean a five-figure payout for us already. It’s the result we are now dreading.”

McEwan has won the Booker Prize previously with his novel Amsterdam in 1998, while Atonement lost out in 2001 to Peter Carey’s True History of the Kelly Gang. As to the question of whether On Chesil Beach is a long enough work to qualify as a novel, the competition’s judges have stated

that it does because the dictionary definition of a novella is “a short novel”. Sir Howard Davies, the chairman of the judging panel, said of McEwan’s entry: “We don’t think it’s at all slight in terms of its emotional steps. It’s a very tight and very taut novel.” Although it was focused on a few hours in one scene, it reflected “huge depth in characterisation”, he added.

“I don’t know anyone who has read that book who hasn’t recalled their worst-ever sexual encounter. We don’t think of it as slight.”

The other shortlisted titles include Darkmans by the British writer Nicola Barker, which has been described by the panel as “an ambitious and energetic contemporary ghost story”.

The Reluctant Fundamentalist, by Mohsin Hamid, also critically acclaimed, depicts a middle-class Asian in crisis after the September 11 terrorist attacks. Animal’s People, by Indra Sinha is a story about the Bhopal chemical disaster, while The Gathering, by the Irish author Anne Enright, is a family epic.

Jonathan Ruppin, of the bookseller Foyles, described the selection as “an exciting list by compelling writers”. He said: “The list is full of the literary giants of the future.”

The judges made their selection from about 110 entries.

The winner will be announced on October 16.

The shortlist

— Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones

“Well-rooted in dramatic and frightening events in Papua New Guinea, with vivid characters and a fascinating literary frame of reference”

— The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid

“Thoughtful examination of the raw meat of Anglo-Saxon capitalism, and one man’s personal response”

— Animal's People by Indra Sinha

“Clearly draws from real life events in Bhopal, but is a sustained imaginative creation in its own right”

— The Gathering by Anne Enright

“A very accomplished and dramatic novel of family relationships and personal breakdown in Ireland and England”

— On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan

“A tight and beautifully written narrative which sustains high emotional tension throughout”

— Darkmans by Nicola Barker

“An ambitious and energetic contemporary ghost story with a vibrant cast of characters, set in modern-day Ashford”

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