Bestselling British Novelist Jeffrey Archer Dies at 86

British novelist and former politician Jeffrey Archer has died at the age of 86, bringing to an end a five-decade literary career marked by global success, political influence and a dramatic fall from grace.

Archer died suddenly and peacefully at his home on Monday, October 5, “between writing sessions,” according to his publisher, HarperCollins. His death came just one day before the scheduled publication of his final novel, Adam and Eve.

The author sold more than 300 million books worldwide, with his works published in 119 countries. Among his best-known novels were Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less, published in 1976, and the hugely successful Kane and Abel, released in 1979.

Kate Elton, chief executive of HarperCollins UK and Archer’s editor, described him as a gifted storyteller and paid tribute to the connection he built with readers over several generations.

Archer remained active until the end of his life. He had attended a book-signing event in London on Sunday and was scheduled to discuss Adam and Eve at the Cheltenham Literature Festival later in the week.

His literary success, however, was matched by a turbulent political and personal life. Archer entered Parliament in 1969 as a Conservative MP at the age of 29 and later became a prominent figure within the Conservative Party during Margaret Thatcher’s time as prime minister. He was appointed to the House of Lords in 1992.

His political career was badly damaged by a scandal arising from a libel case against the Daily Star. In 1987, Archer sued the newspaper over allegations that he had paid a sex worker and won £500,000 in damages.

The controversy returned more than a decade later when Archer was selected as the Conservative candidate for London mayor. Evidence emerged that he had fabricated an alibi connected to the earlier case. He was convicted of perjury and perverting the course of justice in 2001 and sentenced to four years in prison, serving just over two years.

Archer later turned his prison experience into A Prison Diary, a three-volume account of his time behind bars. His conviction did not end his writing career, and he continued producing commercially successful fiction for years afterward.

His final novel, Adam and Eve, was released as planned on Tuesday, October 6. The book follows two characters born on the same day but into sharply different social backgrounds, continuing Archer’s long-running interest in ambition, class and the twists of human relationships.

Archer’s death closes the career of a writer whose books reached hundreds of millions of readers while his life outside fiction repeatedly became a story of its own.

He is survived by his wife, Dame Mary Archer, their two sons, two granddaughters and three grandsons.