Philip Roth, the iconic American writer who had "offended" readers with pungent satire throughout his long literary life, has died at the age of 85 on Tuesday.

Roth's literary agent, Andrew Wylie, said the author died in a New York hospital of congestive heart failure.

A towering figure in American literature, Roth was the author of more than 25 books that helped shape the course of American letters in the second half of the 20th century. He always tried to tackle the most profound questions of American society, such as identity, authorship, morality and mortality.

His iconic style of writing exudes fierce satire and uncompromising realism. His novels, including the Pulitzer-winning "American Pastoral," confront readers in a bold, direct style that scorned false sentiment or hopes for heavenly reward.

Although Roth is often considered as one of the biggest literary figures never to win a Noble Prize, he received many major literary honors, including two U.S. National Book Awards, one Pulitzer Prize and one Man Booker International Prize for lifetime achievement.

Roth was born into a middle-class Jewish family in 1933 in Newark, New Jersey, where many of his books were set.

He received a master's degree in English literature at the University of Chicago and shot to literary fame in his 20s. 

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