The accolade for his novel Disgrace was announced at a dinner at London's Guildhall attended by leading figures from the publishing world.

Mr Coetzee, who is South African and works as Professor of General Literature at the University of Cape Town, also scooped the prize in 1983 with The Life & Times of Michael K.

He beat British author Michael Frayn, who was favourite to take the 31st annual prize.

Mr Coetzee, who was unable to attend the ceremony, described the prize as the "ultimate prize to win in the English-speaking world".

His editor, Geoff Mulligan, accepted the prize on his behalf, and told guests: "We are thrilled that his great and humane novel has won the Booker Prize."

Mr Mulligan read from a letter prepared by the author in the event of a win.

"If I do win it's only because the stars this October 25th are in a lucky conjunction for me," it said.

Chairman of the judging panel Gerald Kaufman MP would not discuss the list after it was unveiled, but said 10 novels were found to be of "major stature".

Mr Kaufman said: "This shortlist is one of the strongest for years - and choosing one of the six to win the prize will be a really challenging task."

The Booker is open to British or Commonwealth authors and aims to reward the best novel of the year.