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| First-time novelist wins Booker | First-time novelist wins Booker |
| (1 day later) | |
| Aravind Adiga has won this year's Man Booker Prize with his debut novel The White Tiger. | Aravind Adiga has won this year's Man Booker Prize with his debut novel The White Tiger. |
| The 33-year-old Indian-born writer was also the youngest author on the shortlist for the £50,000 prize. | |
| He wrote "the kind of book I'd like to read", he told the BBC. "I like books that have ideas in them and that move and entertain." | |
| The chairman of the judges, former politician Michael Portillo, said: "In many ways it was the perfect novel." | |
| Adiga beat favourite Sebastian Barry to take the accolade as well as the other contenders, Amitav Ghosh, Steve Toltz, Linda Grant and Philip Hensher. | |
| The White Tiger, a tale of two Indias, tells the story of Balram, the son of a rickshaw puller in the heartlands, one of the "faceless" poor left behind by the country's recent economic boom. | The White Tiger, a tale of two Indias, tells the story of Balram, the son of a rickshaw puller in the heartlands, one of the "faceless" poor left behind by the country's recent economic boom. |
| It charts his journey from working in a teashop to entrepreneurial success. | It charts his journey from working in a teashop to entrepreneurial success. |
| It's a quest to break out of the circumstances you find yourself in - it's a quest for freedom Aravind Adiga Adiga on the Today programme | |
| "Making it to the shortlist on a first novel is sort of like winning and anything beyond that is quite a bonus," Adiga said. | |
| He said the book was set in today's India and "revolves around the great divide between those Indians who have made it and those who have not". | |
| "At the heart of the book it is something existential," he added. "It's a quest to break out of the circumstances you find yourself in - it's a quest for freedom." | |
| 'Perfect novel' | |
| Announcing the winner at a ceremony in London, Mr Portillo said: "My criteria were 'Does it knock my socks off?' and this one did ... the others impressed me ... this one knocked my socks off." | Announcing the winner at a ceremony in London, Mr Portillo said: "My criteria were 'Does it knock my socks off?' and this one did ... the others impressed me ... this one knocked my socks off." |
| Aravind Adiga on winning the Man Booker prize for The White Tiger | Aravind Adiga on winning the Man Booker prize for The White Tiger |
| Mr Portillo said what set the book apart was its originality in showing "the dark side of India". | Mr Portillo said what set the book apart was its originality in showing "the dark side of India". |
| He said: "The novel is in many ways perfect. It is quite difficult to find any structural flaws with it." | He said: "The novel is in many ways perfect. It is quite difficult to find any structural flaws with it." |
| There were more than two contenders for the prize on the shortlist, but the winner was "absolutely not a compromise", Mr Portillo added. | There were more than two contenders for the prize on the shortlist, but the winner was "absolutely not a compromise", Mr Portillo added. |
| "There really was a decision. The judges were asked to express their satisfaction and they all did." | "There really was a decision. The judges were asked to express their satisfaction and they all did." |
| Adiga is the fourth first-time novelist to win the prize. Previous debut winners were Keri Hulme's The Bone People in 1985; Arundhati Roy in 1997 for God of Small Things; and Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre in 2003. | |
| Adiga is a former correspondent for Time magazine and has written for the Independent and the Sunday Times. | |
| The win means he can expect an upturn in sales and added recognition. | The win means he can expect an upturn in sales and added recognition. |
| 'Exciting winner' | |
| According to Amazon.co.uk, the six books enjoyed average sales rises of 700% following the announcement of the shortlist last month. | According to Amazon.co.uk, the six books enjoyed average sales rises of 700% following the announcement of the shortlist last month. |
| Booksellers Foyles said it was a "very exciting winner for bookshops" adding it could prove as popular as The Life of Pi, the Bookerâs best-selling winner. | |
| The five other shortlisted authors can also expect a rise in sales | |
| Adiga, who had been given odds of 7/1 to win before the ceremony, dedicated the award to "the people of New Delhi". | Adiga, who had been given odds of 7/1 to win before the ceremony, dedicated the award to "the people of New Delhi". |
| Irish writer Barry had been tipped to take the prize at 7/4 by bookmakers William Hill. | Irish writer Barry had been tipped to take the prize at 7/4 by bookmakers William Hill. |
| The bookmakers' favourite has not won since Yann Martel in 2002. | The bookmakers' favourite has not won since Yann Martel in 2002. |
| Of the six authors in contention for this year's Man Booker, only Barry had ever been shortlisted in the past - in 2005 for A Long Long Way. | Of the six authors in contention for this year's Man Booker, only Barry had ever been shortlisted in the past - in 2005 for A Long Long Way. |
| Grant and Hensher had both previously been longlisted. | Grant and Hensher had both previously been longlisted. |
| The award, which honours the best fiction written in English by an author from the UK, Ireland or the Commonwealth, was handed out at the Guildhall in London on Tuesday. | The award, which honours the best fiction written in English by an author from the UK, Ireland or the Commonwealth, was handed out at the Guildhall in London on Tuesday. |