Under the Skin
Short-listed for the Whitbread Award, this remarkable book defies categorisation. Under the Skin introduces Isserley, a woman obsessed with picking up male hitchhikers – so long as they're well-muscled and alone. But why? As the novel unfolds and the reason becomes clear, the reader is drawn inexorably into a completely unexpected and increasingly terrifying world.
Where Under the Skin keeps showing up
One of our editors' lists features this novel.
What you might want to know about Under the Skin
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
Isserley drives the A9 north through the Scottish Highlands in a battered red Toyota, looking for muscular male hitchhikers traveling alone. She is small, near-sighted, surgically scarred, and very strong.
Only loosely. Jonathan Glazer's 2013 film with Scarlett Johansson keeps the premise but strips the plot down to nearly wordless mood. The novel has more straightforward science fiction.
Yes. Faber writes the central practice with clinical detail that makes the reveal genuinely unsettling. It is widely read in classes on body horror.
Under the Skin was written by Michel Faber, published in 2000 by Canongate Books.
Under the Skin is 304 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, Under the Skin takes most readers 5 to 7 hours to finish.
Under the Skin is a standalone novel by Michel Faber, not part of a series.
Under the Skin is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.
