Who is the author of 'The White Tiger', which won the Booker Prize in 2008?

"The White Tiger" is the debut novel of Aravind Adiga, published in 2008. It won the Man Booker Prize in 2008, making Adiga the fourth India-born writer to win the prize.

About the novel:

It is written as a series of letters by the narrator, Balram Halwai, to the visiting Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, over seven nights.

Balram comes from a poor family in a village in Bihar (in the "Darkness"). He becomes a driver for a rich family and moves to Delhi and Gurgaon.

The novel describes the corruption, inequality and "rooster coop" mentality that keep the poor trapped in servitude.

Balram finally murders his employer, Ashok, steals his money, and becomes a successful entrepreneur in Bengaluru.

A "white tiger" is a rare creature that appears once in a generation, which is how Balram describes himself.

In 2021, it was made into a Netflix film directed by Ramin Bahrani, starring Adarsh Gourav, Priyanka Chopra and Rajkummar Rao.

About Aravind Adiga:

He was born in 1974 in Chennai (Madras) and grew up in Mangaluru, Karnataka. He later studied at Columbia University and Oxford.

He worked as a journalist for "Time" magazine before becoming a novelist.

His other books include "Between the Assassinations" (2008, short stories), "Last Man in Tower" (2011), "Selection Day" (2016, about two cricketer brothers, made into a Netflix series), "Amnesty" (2020).

Booker Prize winners of Indian origin:

• S. Naipaul (1971), Salman Rushdie (1981), Arundhati Roy (1997), Kiran Desai (2006) and Aravind Adiga (2008).

Other Indian authors:

• Vikas Swarup: "Q & A" (2005), which was made into the film "Slumdog Millionaire" (2008).
• Amitav Ghosh: "Sea of Poppies" (shortlisted for the Booker, 2008).

Why not the other options?

• ✗Amitav Ghosh was shortlisted for the Booker in 2008 but did not win.
• ✗Vikas Swarup wrote "Q & A", the basis of "Slumdog Millionaire".
• ✗Kiran Desai won the Booker in 2006 for "The Inheritance of Loss".