Booker winner races up book chart

DBC Pierre has hit the headlines for his personal life

This year's Booker Prize-winning novel, by DBC Pierre, has shot up more than 1,000 places in the UK book chart.

The book, Vernon God Little, went from 1,124th to 18th in the week that it won the prestigious £50,000 award.

The black comedy, about the aftermath of a high school massacre in Texas, is Pierre's first novel.

But last year's winner, Life of Pi by Yann Martel, is still ahead of it in the chart, at number 10, according to figures from Nielsen Bookscan.

The head of the Booker judges called Vernon God Little a "coruscating black comedy reflecting our alarm but also our fascination with America".

But Pierre - real name Born Peter Finlay - has also hit the headlines after admitting to spending much of his life in a drug-induced "haze" and selling a friend's house to pocket the proceeds.