Philip Roth, considered to be one of the greatest modern writers in the United States, died on Tuesday aged 85, according to US media reports.
The death of the author of more than 30 novels was reported by the New Yorker and the New York Times, which both cited friends close to Roth. The cause of death was reportedly heart failure.
Roth's biographer Blake Bailey also confirmed his death on Twitter, saying the writer died "surrounded by lifelong friends who loved him deeply."
Roth was born on March 19, 1933 in Newark, New Jersey, and earned a bachelor's degree in English from Bucknell University and a master's in English literature from the University of Chicago.
He began writing short stories for the Paris Review, Esquire, The New Yorker and other magazines while teaching at the University of Chicago, and spent years teaching at the University of Pennsylvania.
His early acclaim was mixed with controversy with his third novel, "Portnoy's Complaint," which appeared in 1969.
In much of his later work, Roth created literary alter egos, or gave the central characters his own name and many similar characteristics.
He won a Pulitzer Prize for his 1997 novel "American Pastoral." He was often considered a favourite for the Nobel Prize for Literature, but never received the award.
His writing often focused on life in the US near his birthplace, but Roth continued to tackle new subjects later in his career, which spanned five decades.
His 2004 novel "The Plot Against America" presents an alternative history in which Charles Lindberg is elected president in 1940 and allies with Nazi Germany during World War II.
Roth is considered to be one of the greatest modern US authors, often mentioned alongside Saul Bellow, John Updike, Norman Mailer and Gore Vidal.
In 2011, when Roth was awarded the Man Booker International Prize, chief judge Rick Gekoski praised his impact on the fiction community.
"In his 50s and 60s, when most novelists are in decline, he wrote a string of novels of the highest, most enduring quality." he said at the time.
Roth shocked the literary world world in 2012 when he announced his retirement from writing.
