First US winner for Man Booker Prize

● Scottish author Graeme Macrae Burnet misses out to New York writer

A Scottish novelist has lost out on Britain’s most prestigious literary prize to the first American winner.

New York author Paul Beatty has claimed the Man Booker Prize for his novel The Sellout two years after the eligibility rules were altered to allow US entries for the first time.

He was one of two American authors on the six-strong shortlist, which also featured Ayrshire writer Graeme Macrae Burnet, who was in contention with only his second novel.

The winning book, hailed by the Man Booker Prize judges as “a searing satire on race relations in contemporary America”, is set in Los Angeles, where Beatty was born in 1962.

He landed his first book deal in 1990 after winning a “poetry slam” competition and released his debut novel, The White Bot Snuffle, six years later.

The plot of The Sellout revolves around a narrator who has spent his childhood as the subject in his father’s racially-charged psychological studies, which he is told will lead to a memoir that will solve their financial woes.

When his father is killed in a drive-by shooting and he discovers there was never intended to be a memoir, he sets out to reassert his African American identity by reinstating slavery in his neighbourhood and segregating the local high school.

The official announcement of the winner of the prize said: “What follows is a retrospective of this whirlwind scheme, populated by cartoonish characters who serve to parody racial stereotypes.

“The framework of institutional racism and the unjust shooting of Bonbon’s father at the hands of the police are particularly topical.”

Burnet, a former English teacher, had been tipped as a favourite for the award for his crime thriller His Bloody Project, about the impact of a triple murder on a remote Highland crofting community.

Burnet spent several years trying to get his work published before being snapped up by the tiny Scottish crime imprint Contraband.

He has previously worked as an English teacher around Europe before returning to Scotland to work with independenttelevisioncompanies.

His book was one of three from small independent publishing houses to be in contention for the £50,000 prize.

Beatty’s publisher Oneworld has hailed The Sellout as “an outrageous and outrageously entertaining indictment of our time.”

Amanda Foreman, chair of the judging panel, said: “The Sellout is a novel for our times.

“A tirelessly inventive modern satire, its humour disguises a radical seriousness.

“Paul Beatty slays sacred cows with abandon and takes aim at racial and political taboos with wit, verve and a snarl.”

Speaking ahead of the awards ceremony in London, Beatty insisted he did not see himself as a writer of satire.

He added: “I’m surprised that everybody keeps calling this a comic novel. I mean, I get it. But it’s an easy way not to talk about anything else.”