three previous occasions for Flaubert's Parrot (1984), England, England (1998) and Arthur & George (2005). On choosing The Sense of an Ending for the shortlist, judge Gaby Wood said: "It seems to be the most obvious book on this list. It's a quiet book, but the shock that comes doesn't break stride with the tone of the rest of the book. In purely technical terms it is one of the most masterful things I've ever read." On 18 October 2011, The Sense of an Ending was awarded the Booker Prize. Head judge Stella Rimington described the novel as "exquisitely written, subtly plotted and reveals new depths with each reading." She added: "We thought it was a book that spoke to the humankind in the 21st Century." On 15 November 2011, it was announced The Sense of an Ending had been nominated in the Best Novel category at the 2011 Costa Book Awards, though the book lost out to Andrew Miller's novel, Pure. Film adaptation A film adaptation of the same name made its world premiere as the opening film at the Palm Springs International Film Festival in Palm Springs, California on 5 January 2017. The limited US release began on 10 March 2017. It was directed by Ritesh Batra from a screenplay adaptation by Nick Payne with a cast including Michelle Dockery, Emily Mortimer, Jim Broadbent, Charlotte Rampling, and Harriet Walter. References 2011 British novels Booker Prize-winning works English novels Novels by Julian Barnes Postmodern novels Fiction with unreliable narrators Jonathan Cape books British novels adapted into films