Ian McEwan won the Booker Prize in 1998 with Amsterdam

Four previous winners - McEwan, Kazuo Ishiguro, Salman Rushdie and JM Coetzee - have made the 2005 longlist.

They are up against debut author Marina Lewycka's A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian, winner of two comic fiction prizes.

White Teeth author Zadie Smith has also made the list with an as yet unpublished third novel, On Beauty.

The longlist features 17 books chosen from 109 entries. Besides Lewycka, two other first-time authors - Tash Aw and Harry Thompson - are included.

LONGLIST'S PREVIOUS WINNERS Salman Rushdie 1981 Midnight's Children JM Coetzee 1983 Life and Times of Michael K, 1999 Disgrace Ian McEwan 1998 Amsterdam Kazuo Ishiguro 1989 The Remains of the Day

Thompson, the TV producer behind such shows as Have I Got News For You and Da Ali G Show, was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer shortly before his book was published.

A shortlist of six books will be announced on 8 September, before the overall winner is revealed on 10 October.

'Balanced'

John Sutherland, chair of the judging panel, said it had been an "exceptional year".

"It is also a nicely balanced longlist with four previous Booker winners, three first novels and a satisfying range of styles."

Synopsis of novels on longlist

The winner will receive �50,000, while the five other shortlisted writers will receive �2,500 each.

Last year's Man Booker was won by The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst.

Ladbrokes make Julian Barnes 4/1 favourite, with Ian McEwan at 5/1, Salman Rushdie at 7/1 and Dan Jacobson 8/1.

William Hill have made Ian McEwan favourite at 3/1, with JM Coetzee at 5/1, Kazuo Ishiguro at 6/1 and Julian Barnes 7/1.

The full longlist is as follows: