London, Aug 12: British writer and Noble Prize laureate for literature, Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul, died at his home in London on Saturday at the age of 85. "He died surrounded by all the people he loved, having lived a life full of wonderful creativity and effort," VS Naipaul's wife Lady Naipaul said in a statement.

Born on 17 August 1932 in Chaguanas, VS Naipaul won the Noble Prize for literature in 2001. He was among the leading writers of the English language of the 20th and 21st centuries. He also won the Booker Prize in 1971. He shot to fame with his novel "A House for Mr Biswas".

Naipaul was born in a family descended from Indian immigrants and later traveled to the UK and entered the University of Oxford in 1950 after winning a government scholarship. He began his literary career in 1961 and since then has written about 30 books.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 12, 2018 09:19 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).