American author George Saunders won Britain's renowned Man Booker Prize for his first full-length novel Lincoln in the Bardo.

Saunders became only the second writer from to win the prestigious English-language literary award.

The judges praised the book as 'utterly original' that chronicles the death of Abraham Lincoln's 11-year-old son Willie using the accounts of hundreds of narrators.

'The form and style of this utterly original novelreveals a witty, intelligent, and deeply moving narrative,' said Lola Young, chair of the judging panel, while announcing the prize in London.

Saunders, 58, said the award is a 'great honour'.

"I hope to live up to the honour with the rest of my work, for the rest of my life," he said.

He also made several thinly-veiled references to the controversial policies of United States President Donald Trump.

"We live in a strange time," he told the audience. "In the US now we're hearing a lot about the need to protect culture. Well, this tonight is culture."

This year's Man Booker Prize shortlist pitted three US and three British writers against one another.  -- Agencies

IMAGE: George Saunders, author of Lincoln in the Bardo, poses for photographers after winning the Man Booker Prize for Fiction 2017 in London, on Tuesday. Photograph: Mary Turner/Reuters