London, April 20 : The acclaimed British author JG Ballard, whose novels include Crash and Empire of the Sun, has died after a long illness. He was 78.

His agent, Margaret Hanbury, announced the author's death.

Hanbury said that Ballard had been ill `for several years' and had died on Sunday morning.

Despite being referred to as a science fiction writer, Ballard said his books were `picturing the psychology of the future'.

His was best known for his novel `Empire of the Sun', based on his childhood in a Japanese prison camp in China.

His pal and fellow author, Iain Sinclair, described Ballard as a major literary figure.

"He was one of the first to take up the whole idea of ecological catastrophe. He was fascinated by celebrity early on, the cult of the star and suicides of cars, motorways, edgelands of cities," the BBC quoted Sinclair as saying.

"All of these things he was one of the first to create almost a philosophy of. And I think as time has gone on, he''s become a major, major figure," Sinclair added. (ANI)