The Man Booker Prize has been awarded to Jamaican author Marlon James for his novel about the attempted assassination of Bob Marley.

The judges described A Brief History of Seven Killings as the “most exciting” book on the shortlist, saying the 680-page epic was “very violent”, “full of surprises” and “full of swearing”.

Spanning three decades, the novel uses the true story of the assassination attempt to explore Jamaican politics and gang culture. Another judge praised the book’s “many voices”, which “went from Jamaican slang to Biblical heights”.

James picked up his £50,000 prize on Tuesday night at London’s Guildhall, where he said the novel had been hugely inspired by reggae music. “The reggae singers Bob Marley and Peter Tosh were the first to recognise that the voice coming out our mouths was a legitimate voice for fiction and poetry,” he said.

Marley’s complete Island recordings have recently been compiled in a covetable Zippo-shaped box set. Earlier this year his family won a landmark case against the unauthorised use of his image. [via BBC News]