British writer Jeffrey Archer dies at 86 — Channel NewsAsia

British writer and former politician Jeffrey Archer has died at the age of 86. Publisher HarperCollins said he died suddenly and peacefully at home on October 5, a day before the worldwide release of his final novel, Adam And Eve.

Channel NewsAsia reports the author's death. Archer is survived by his wife Mary Archer, with whom he spent 60 years, two sons, two granddaughters and three grandsons.

More than 300 million books sold

Archer's literary career spanned five decades. His debut novel, Not A Penny More, Not A Penny Less, was published in 1976. According to the report, the book may have been inspired by the author's own experience, as he nearly went bankrupt after unsuccessful investments.

Archer also wrote the bestseller Kane And Abel. According to HarperCollins, his books sold 300 million copies worldwide. In total, his works spent 14 years and five months on The Sunday Times bestseller list and more than five years on The New York Times ranking.

More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.

Political career and imprisonment

Archer was a member of the UK's Conservative Party and received a seat in the House of Lords in 1992 on the appointment of Prime Minister John Major. He was expelled from the party before his imprisonment in 2001.

During the 1999 London mayoral election campaign, allegations emerged that he had lied in court in a 1987 libel case against the Daily Star newspaper. Jurors found that Archer had fabricated an alibi, after which he was sentenced to four years in prison for perjury. He was released early in 2003 after serving just over two years.

After his release, Archer returned to the House of Lords as a non-party member and remained there until his retirement in 2024. He described his experience of imprisonment in the three-volume memoir A Prison Diary, which included the books Hell, Purgatory and Heaven.

The writer's final novel, Adam And Eve, tells the story of an earl's daughter and a shepherd's son, born on the same day into different social classes.