UK author and politician Jeffrey Archer dies aged 86

British novelist and former politician Jeffrey Archer has died aged 86, his publisher HarperCollins has said.

Archer was a best-selling author who sold more than 300 million copies worldwide.

The writer 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.

Archer 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."