French writer Mr Michel Houellbecq was today named the 2002 winner of the annual International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.
Mr Houellbecq (44), the author of one previous novel, will receive his €100,000 at a ceremony in Dublin next month.
The poet and novelist got the prize for his novel Atomised, which tells the story of two-half brothers with the same mother but little else in common.
The book, a terrifyingly truthful satire on French society and humankind at large, translated by Frank Wynne, is a cult classic.
It has been described as "filled with caustic asides on everything from anthropology to the problem pages of girls' magazines." Not only does it showcase French intellectual playfulness at its most wicked, it is also candid, shocking and possibly prophetic.
Houellbecq's award was announced at a ceremony in Dublin by the city's Lord Mayor, Mr Michael Mulcahy.
Others on the shortlist for the prize were Canadian Margaret Atwood, Peter Carey, of Australia, Irishman Michael Collins, Helen DeWitt of the United States, Carlos Fuentes of Mexico, and Antoni Libera of Poland.
The winner is selected by a panel of international judges.