American writer George Saunders has won the Man Booker prize for his novel Lincoln in the Bardo.
The Texan is the-second US author to take home the £50,000 ($NZ91,950) fiction award, the BBC reports.
The book tells the story of Abraham Lincoln's grief after the death of his young son, and his visits to his tomb.
It is the first full-length novel from Saunders, previously best known for his short stories, and is set in a graveyard, over a single night.
Judges praised the 58-year-old's "utterly original" work and said it was "deeply moving".
Saunders was one of six authors shortlisted for the prestigious award, alongside British writers Ali Smith and Fiona Mozley, fellow Americans Paul Auster and Emily Fridlund, and British-Pakistani author Mohsin Hamid.
The Texas-born author, who lives in New York, has previously won the Folio Prize and Story Prize for his short story collection Tenth of December. Lincoln in the Bardo is his ninth book.
