Victory for comic writing as Jacobson wins Booker

The English novelist Howard Jacobson's exploration of Jewishness, The Finkler Question, is the first out-and-out comic novel ever to win the Man Booker Prize - and the writer was on good comic form when he accepted the £50,000 award at London's Guildhall last night.

What would he she spending the prize money on? A handbag for his wife, Jenny. "Have you seen the price of handbags?"

Is it fair to call him an English Philip Roth? "No! I'm a Jewish Jane Austen."

What was he working on now? "I was well into an extremely comic book... about a writer enjoying no success whatsoever. I'm in a bit of schtuck with this one."

As for his reputation, "I have been increasingly talked about as underrated and I'm so sick of being described as the underrated Howard Jacobson. So the thought that's gone forever, is wonderful."

According to the judges' chairman, Sir Andrew Motion, the decision was not a hard one, taking only an hour to reach. It was not unanimous, but all the judges were "entirely happy" with the choice.

No one was happier than the bookmakers. They stood to lose a six-figure sum if Tom McCarthy's C, won the prize. It was the hottest ever favourite in the history of the Booker, at odds of 8/15.

Today, readers and publishers don't even know if C came second. Motion refused to say which book just missed out: "I don't want that person to go to bed tonight and eat their pillow." ·