Best-selling British novelist and former politician Jeffrey Archer dies at 86

Jeffrey Archer was known for his high-octane thrillers and sold more than 300 million copies worldwide. (File Photo)

Best-selling novelist Jeffrey Archer has died at the age of 86, his publisher HarperCollins said on Monday.

Archer, who was jailed for lying in a high-profile libel case, was known for his high-octane thrillers and sold more than 300 million copies worldwide.

Among his popular novels were “Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less” and ⁠1979’s “Kane & ​Abel”. Last of his novels, “Adam and Eve”, is due to be published on Tuesday.

In a statement, HarperCollins’ UK CEO and Archer’s editor Kate Elton said: “We’re all devastated to have lost a writer who has brought joy to generations of readers — and a true friend.”

A former Conservative politician, Archer had briefly served as a lawmaker ⁠before becoming a senior party official under then-Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Margaret Thatcher in the mid-1980s.