Forget literary classics like Catcher in the Rye, Lord of the Flies and War and Peace, the book a leading selection of writers most enjoyed in 2012 was... I, Partridge: We Need To Talk About Alan.

Steve Coogan's Alan Partridge book, a parody of celebrity autobiographies that was first released last September, beat over 100 other titles - including Charles Dickens' Martin Chuzzlewit and Frederick Forsyth's The Day of the Jackal - to come top of a poll of authors' favourites.

The study, conducted by the Andrew Lownie Literary Agency as part of a nationwide study into reading habits, asked more than 100 of Britain's leading authors to name the book they most enjoyed reading in 2012.

Respected author and agent David Haviland, who took part in the survey, said: "Alan Partridge's memoir is the funniest book I've read in years and is a refreshing antidote to the tendency for comedians' books to veer into misery memoir territory."

He added: "So many passages made me laugh out loud, for example: 'So, dear reader, our time together is over. All that remains is this short epilogue. And anyone who thinks it's designed solely to haul me over the minimum word-count specified by my publisher is very, very, very, very, very, very wrong.'"

Authors also named high-brow classic texts such as Nancy Mitford's Don't Tell Alfred, Rose Macaulay's The Towers of Trebizond, and John Buchan's Greenmantle in the survey, but it was the book by Norfolk's favourite DJ that took the most votes.

Here's the funny video Steve Coogan filmed in character to promote the book:

A best-seller over the last twelve months, I, Partridge: We Need To Talk About Alan is available to buy now. It is also one of the country's most popular audiobooks, with Steve Coogan reading in character. Part of the reason the book has been top of audio charts is that it can be downloaded for free with a free trial of Audible

Alan Partridge is still very much around. Another series of Alan Partridge's Mid Morning Matters is in development, as is a 2013 Alan Partridge film.