Publishing company Penguin Random House LLC revealed on Friday that Random House, an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group, is to publish VIGIL, a new novel by Booker Prize-winning author George Saunders, on 27 January 2026.

World rights were acquired by Andy Ward from Esther Newberg at CAA.

Set at the deathbed of oil executive K.J. Boone, VIGIL follows his final journey guided by Jill 'Doll' Blaine, a young woman who died in 1976 and now aids the dying. As Boone nears death, both earthly and spectral visitors demand a reckoning. Saunders explores corporate greed, capitalism, technology and redemption with his trademark insight and imagination.

Saunders, author of Lincoln in the Bardo and Tenth of December, has won the Man Booker Prize and the PEN/Malamud Prize. He has also received MacArthur and Guggenheim Fellowships. His most recent collection, Liberation Day, was among President Barack Obama's favourite books of 2022.