British literary giant and former Conservative politician dies peacefully at home, leaving behind a remarkable career marked by global bestsellerdom, political prominence and scandal.

British bestselling novelist and former Conservative politician Jeffrey Archer has died at the age of 86, his publisher, HarperCollins, has announced.

Archer died suddenly but peacefully at home between writing sessions, bringing to a close a remarkable career that spanned politics, prison and more than five decades of literary success.

The prolific author sold more than 300 million books in 119 countries, making him one of Britain’s most commercially successful writers. His best-known works include Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less and Kane & Abel.

His final novel, Adam & Eve, is due to be published on Tuesday, just a day after his death.

Archer’s life before literary fame was equally eventful. He served as a Conservative Member of Parliament and later rose to become a senior party official under former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. He was subsequently appointed to the House of Lords as a life peer, remaining a prominent figure in British public life.

But his political career was dramatically derailed by a legal scandal.

In 1987, Archer won a £500,000 libel case over allegations that he had paid a woman for sex. He was later found to have lied during the proceedings.

In 2001, he was convicted of perjury and perverting the course of justice and sentenced to four years in prison, of which he served two.

The experience later provided material for A Prison Diary, a three-volume account of his time behind bars. Despite the scandal and imprisonment, Archer’s popularity as a novelist remained largely intact.

He spent more than five years on the New York Times bestseller lists and continued writing, publishing and promoting his books well into his 80s.

Kate Elton, CEO of HarperCollins UK and Archer’s editor, described him as a writer who had brought joy to generations of readers.

Archer had been scheduled to discuss Adam & Eve at the Cheltenham Literature Festival and had recently appeared on radio programmes to promote the book.

His death marks the end of an extraordinary and often controversial public life—one in which political ambition, personal scandal and literary triumph were repeatedly intertwined.

Yet for millions of readers around the world, Archer’s most enduring legacy will be the stories that made him a household name and cemented his place among Britain’s most successful popular novelists.