Anna Burns has become the first Northern Irish author to win the Man Booker Prize.
The Belfast-born writer took the award for her fiction novel 'Milkman', which is set in an unnamed city.
She saw off competition from two British writers, two American writers and one Canadian writer.
It is her third full-length novel and her first major award.
Ms Burns (56), who now lives in England, drew on the experience of Northern Ireland during The Troubles to write 'Milkman'.
Congratulations Anna Burns @FaberBooks on winning the #ManBooker2018 with #Milkman! https://t.co/LyedvpNZyS #FinestFiction pic.twitter.com/jrZQlkRQjM
— Man Booker Prize (@ManBookerPrize) October 16, 2018
Kwame Anthony Appiah is the 2018 chair of judges: "None of us has ever read anything like this before.
"Anna Burns' utterly distinctive voice challenges conventional thinking and form in surprising and immersive prose.
"It is a story of brutality, sexual encroachment and resistance threaded with mordant humour.
"Set in a society divided against itself, Milkman explores the insidious forms oppression can take in everyday life."
'Milkman' focuses on a middle sister as she navigates her way through rumour, social pressures and politics in a tight-knit community.
Ms Burns shows the dangerous and complex outcome that can happen to a woman coming of age in a city at war.
The Irish Times wrote that Burns created a novel that is 'an impressive, wordy, often funny book and confirms Anna Burns as one of our rising literary stars'.
While the UK Telegraph described the novel as 'viciously funny', praising Burns for her ability 'to paint a colourful social scene'.
The Duchess of Cornwall Camilla Parker Bowles (left) and Anna Burns on stage at the Guildhall in London after she was awarded the Man Booker Prize for Fiction | Image: Frank Augstein/PA Wire/PA Images
In the book, the characters have designations rather than names.
On her book, Ms Burns said: "The book didn't work with names. It lost power and atmosphere and turned into a lesser - or perhaps just a different - book.
"In the early days I tried out names a few times, but the book wouldn't stand for it.
"The narrative would become heavy and lifeless and refuse to move on until I took them out again. Sometimes the book threw them out itself".
Luke Ellis, CEO of Man Group, said: "My colleagues and I at Man Group would like to congratulate Anna Burns, as well as each of the shortlisted authors.
"The six shortlisted novels this year explored particularly diverse and wide-ranging experiences and themes, and were linked by their brilliant use of language and creativity.
"We are honoured to support the Man Booker Prize for the sixteenth year, as it continues in its fiftieth year to champion literary excellence and the power of the novel on a global scale".
Ms Burns was announced as the winner at a dinner in London on Tuesday.
She was presented with a trophy from Camilla Parker Bowles, the Duchess of Cornwall, and a stg£50,000 (€56,904) cheque.
