Meyer won a number of prizes for his first novel
Als wir träumten (
As We Were Dreaming), published in 2006, in which a group of friends grow up and go off the rails in East Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall. He received the
Rheingau Literatur Preis in 2006. It has been adapted into a film
As We Were Dreaming, released in 2015. His second book,
Die Nacht, die Lichter (
All the Lights, 2008), was translated by Katy Derbyshire and published by independent London publisher
And Other Stories in 2011. It won the
Leipzig Book Fair Prize in 2008. His third book,
Gewalten (
Acts of Violence), is a diary of 2009 in eleven stories. Meyer published his second novel in 2013.
Im Stein (
Bricks and Mortar) was translated by Katy Derbyshire and included in the long list for the
International Man Booker Prize in 2017. The novel won the prestigious
Bremer Literaturpreis in 2014, and was shortlisted for the
German Book Prize (Deutscher Buchpreis) in 2013. The English translation won the "Straelener Übersetzerpreis" of the
Kunststiftung NRW in 2018 and was shortlisted for the 2019
Best Translated Book Award. His third novel,
Die Projektoren, was published in 2024. Meyer worked on the 1,040-page book for more than eight years. It was praised by the press and repeatedly described as an "epic" and Meyer's
magnum opus.
Die Projektoren was shortlisted for the German Book Prize. When he again failed to win, Meyer called the jury "bloody wankers" ("verdammte Wichser") and left the prizegiving ceremony, explaining later that he considered the decision "a shame for literature". Meyer also stated that he had financial debts and needed the prize money to pay them off. At the end of the year, Meyer won the Bavarian Book Prize for
Die Projektoren. == Awards ==