‘Names that end with ‘son’, spelled with just one ‘s’, they sound American. Easy to pronounce in English. Couldn’t tell you why, but it’s true. A name is important, a marker you should finesse if you can. Ia … is that short for something?’
- Longlisted
- The International Booker Prize 2026
- Published by Wildfire Books
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Intricately built and wickedly humorous, these five interconnected short stories are all about one thing: money
From an interview with a child-star-turned-thief to the mysterious death of an employee at a drug manufacturer – or the couple feigning marital bliss to keep their inheritance, Ia Genberg carefully unravels the value we place on both money and people.
What does it really mean to be in debt to someone? How does our financial worth permeate the ways we think and feel? And what do we lose when we supposedly win?
An original and thought-provoking short-story collection, Small Comfort skewers its characters, slyly implicating the reader along the way. It was longlisted for the International Booker Prize 2026.
Ia Genberg
Swedish author Ia Genberg, born in 1967, began her writing career as a journalist
More about Ia Genberg 
Kira Josefsson
Kira Josefsson is a writer and literary translator working between Swedish and English
More about Kira Josefsson In five profound and breathtakingly original stories, money makes the world go round – and Genberg has a clear-eyed vision of how. The writing zings in all the right places
The International Booker Prize 2026 judges
What the judges said
‘A separated couple are forced to revert to married life for an annual holiday in order to secure an inheritance. A researcher using Monopoly to study societal inequality discovers for herself how love corrupts. Money makes the world go round and Ia Genberg has a deep, clear-eyed vision of how. The dramatic distinctness of the five stories that make up Small Comfort speaks to the might of Genberg’s imaginative powers, while the intricate threads tying them together are testament to her subtleness as a thinker. It couldn’t work without Kira Josefsson’s staggeringly flexible translation, which also stands out for the naturalness of its dialogue and wonderfully rhythmic prose. This duo’s writing zings and smarts in all the right places as we see ourselves reflected in the characters, warts and all. Breathtakingly original, profound but with a delicious dose of irreverence.’
Other nominated books by Ia Genberg
In exhilarating, provocative prose, Ia Genberg reveals an intimate and powerful celebration of what it means to be human
Other nominated books by Kira Josefsson
In exhilarating, provocative prose, Ia Genberg reveals an intimate and powerful celebration of what it means to be human
