Chair of judges for 2008, Michael Portillo, unveiled the six shortlisted books at the Victoria and Albert Museum and kicked off an international debate on air, on television and online. Check the titles and writers and join the discussion on the website.
The shortlist announcement coincides with the opening of, The Booker 40 at the V & A - celebrating the 40th anniversary of the world's most important prize for fiction.
The exhibition includes every book which has won since 1969, as well as many of the shortlisted works. It also includes displays on the design of book jackets, posters, promotional materials plus a selection of the unique book bindings made for winning and shortlisted writers since 1991.
The original trophy created by Jan Pienkowski will also be on show, as will the new trophy specially commissioned for the 40th anniversary and designed by UXB.
This is the first time that this collection of archive material has been put on public display. Some of the content has come from private individuals as well as from The Booker Prize Archive which is housed at Oxford Brookes University. The exhibition runs until 17 May 2009.