Author Wilbur Smith died at his home in South Africa on Saturday after a decades-long career in writing, according to a statement from the author's official website. He was 88.
 
The cause of his death was not confirmed.
 
"Global bestselling author Wilbur Smith died unexpectedly this afternoon at his Cape Town home after a morning of reading and writing with his wife Niso by his side," the statement said.

With a 50 year-long career and 49 novels to his name, Smith became renowned for his valiant adventure stories with sites ranging from the jungles of Africa to Ancient Egypt and even to World War II.
 
“The undisputed and inimitable master of adventure writing, Wilbur Smith’s novels have gripped readers for over half a century, selling over 140 million copies worldwide in more than thirty languages,” a statement on the Wilbur Smith Books website said.

His books have been translated into around 30 languages and several were made into films, including Shout at the Devil with Lee Marvin and Roger Moore in 1976.

Smith's life

He was born in Zambia in 1933 to a British family. He was a big-game hunter, having grown up experiencing the forest, hills, and savannah of Africa on his parents’ ranch, which his adventurous novels can be attributed to. He also held a pilot’s license and was a scuba diver. When he was 18 months old he was diagnosed with cerebral malaria, but recovered.

Being an environmentalist, he managed his own game reserve and owned a tropical island in the Seychelles.

In his memory

His bestselling Courtney Series spanned generations and three centuries, “through critical periods from the dawn of colonial Africa to the American Civil War, and to the apartheid era in South Africa”, said his publisher.

Wilbur “most strongly identified" with Taita, the hero of his Egyptian Series, and River God remains one of his best-loved novels to this day”, it added.

"All my characters have got a big slice of me in them," he told CNN in an interview.

His office thanked “millions of fans across the world who cherished his incredible writing and joined us all on his amazing adventures”.

Kevin Conroy Scott, his literary agent for the past decade, described him as “an icon, larger than life” and said his “knowledge of Africa, and his imagination knew no limitations”.

“I want to be remembered as somebody who gave pleasure to millions,” Smith once wrote.