US novelist Gore Vidal, the iconoclastic commentator on American life and history in works like "Lincoln" and "Myra Breckenridge", has died at age 86, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The writer's newphew Burr Steers said Vidal died Tuesday at his home in the Hollywood Hills of complications from pneumonia, the Times said.

He was one the giants of a generation of American writers that included Norman Mailer and Truman Capote, as well known for his flamboyant social and sexual life and trenchant political views as for his novels.

He wrote 25 novels, essays, Broadway hits, screenplays and television dramas in a careeer that also included unsuccessful runs for political office, celebrated talk show duels, and even an appearance as himself in Fellini's "Roma".