The Man Booker Prize was established in 1969, with the aim of promoting the finest in fiction by rewarding the best novel of the year written in English and published in the United Kingdom. Judges are chosen from a wide range of disciplines, including critics, writers and academics, but also poets, politicians and actors, all with a passion for quality fiction. One of the 2017 judges is artist Tom Phillips, whose classic work, A Humument – a collage made out of a Victorian novel – has recently been published in its final edition after decades of ongoing work. His portraits of Iris Murdoch and Samuel Beckett are both in the collection of National Portrait Gallery. Phillips has been a trustee of the National Portrait Gallery and the British Museum, and has chaired the Library and Exhibition Committee of the Royal Academy. The winner of the prize receives £50,000, and £2,500 is also awarded to each of the shortlisted authors. Both the winner and the shortlisted authors are guaranteed a worldwide readership.