UK author and politician Jeffrey Archer dies aged 86

LONDON, Oct 5 - Jeffrey Archer, the best-selling British novelist and former politician who was jailed for lying in a high-profile libel case, has died aged 86, his publisher HarperCollins said on Monday.

Archer sold over 300 million copies worldwide and was known for pacy thrillers like his 1976 debut "Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less" and "Kane & Abel", with his final novel Adam and Eve due to be published this month.

He was also a prominent Conservative politician, who briefly served as a lawmaker before becoming a senior party official under prime minister Margaret Thatcher in the mid-1980s.

But Archer suffered a very public downfall when he was convicted of perjury and perverting the course of justice in 2001, being sentenced to four years' imprisonment.

Kate Elton, HarperCollins' UK CEO and Archer's editor, said in a statement: "We're all devastated to have lost a writer who has brought joy to generations of readers - and a true friend." REUTERS