DBC Pierre has been candid about his personal life

Two novels, Pierre's Vernon God Little and Ali's Brick Lane, have made the shortlist alongside three diverse non-fiction books.

The winner, announced on 4 December, receives �10,000.

On winning �50,000 for the Booker, Pierre said the money would go to those affected by his past, which included selling a friend's home without permission.

Among those nominated for the Guardian First Book Prize, which takes into account the views of reader groups around the country, is Anna Funder for Stasiland, about the surveillance techniques employed in East Germany.

Paul Broks' Into the Silent Land is a mix of real-life neurological tales, fiction and personal accounts about the relationship of the brain and mind.

Guardian First Book Award shortlist Anna Funder - Stasiland Paul Broks - Into the Silent Land Robert Macfarlane Monica Ali - Brick Lane DBC Pierre - Vernon God Little

Mountains of the Mind by Robert Macfarlane recounts a personal history of mountains from 300 years ago.

New energy

Heading the judges is Guardian literary editor Claire Armistead, while Waterstone's literary editor Martin Higgs will be representing readers on the final panel.

Speaking about the shortlist, Ms Armistead said: "The fact that there was an unprecedented number of first novels on the Booker longlist this year says something about the quality of new writers around.

"There is a sense of a generation shift, but also of a welcome change in the demographic. Whereas Booker judges talked of a new energy in the regional novel, my own sense is that the most important change is that writers are challenging any sort of parochialism."

She added that in non-fiction there had been a "generic inventiveness".

Ali's book Brick Lane, about a Bangladeshi woman's experiences of life in East London, became an instant best-seller, and had been favourite to win the Booker.

DBC Pierre, which stands for Dirty But Clean, and his book Vernon God Little had been largely unknown by the general reading public but has since entered the top 20 book chart.