V. S. Naipaul is known not only for his early Trinidad novels, the most prominent being The Mystic Masseur and A House for Mr Biswas, but also his writings based on his travels to different parts of the world. In a Free State based on his travels in Africa got him commercial recognition along with literary fame in the form of the Booker prize in 1971. He returned to his explorations of the Indian diaspora in Africa in his notable work A Bend in the River which was shortlisted for the Booker in 1979. In 1991, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for his body of work which included other notable works: The Loss of El Dorado, A Flag on the Island, The Mimic Men, and The Enigma of Arrival.