The China Mail - British novelist David Lodge dies aged 89

The English author was best known for "Small World" and "Nice Work", which were nominated for the prestigious literary award in the 1980s.

He died "peacefully" on New Year's Day, Penguin Random House said in a statement, without giving a cause of death.

"His contribution to literary culture was immense, both in his criticism and through his masterful and iconic novels which have already become classics," Lodge's publisher, Liz Foley, said in a statement.

His family said they were "very proud" of Lodge, who was renowned for his plays, memoirs and TV scripts, as well as his books.

"Small World" (1984) and "Nice Work" (1988) came after "Changing Places" (1975) and made up his campus trilogy series about a fictional university called Rummidge.

It followed professors Philip Swallow from England and Morris Zapp from the United States and the cultural challenges they face when they swap universities for six months.

Lodge taught in the English department at the University of Birmingham between 1960 and 1987 before retiring to focus on writing.

B.Carter--ThChM