China Miéville's story of a murder investigation in parallel worlds, The City and the City, has won the British Science Fiction Association's award for best novel – the first in what could be a slew of genre prizes to come its way this year.

Miéville's novel, in which Inspector Tyador Borlú of the Extreme Crime Squad attempts to solve the case of a murdered woman in the city of Beszél, a decaying metropolis existing in the same space as the city of Ul Qoma, has also been shortlisted for the Hugo best novel award and the Arthur C Clarke prize for the best science fiction novel of the year. Over the weekend, it was voted best novel by members of the British Science Fiction Association, ahead of Adam Roberts's Yellow Blue Tibia, Ursula K Le Guin's historical fantasy Lavinia and previous winner Stephen Baxter's apocalyptic Ark.

"I don't think this is the last award it will win this year," said Niall Harrison, editor of the BSFA's journal, Vector. "What I admire about The City and the City is its deep but generous intelligence. Its representation of urban experience is one of those rare, inspired fantastical conceits that you really do take with you when you finish reading."

A two-time winner of both the Arthur C Clarke and the British Fantasy Award, Miéville has not previously won the BSFA prize. The Times called The City and the City "an eye-opening genre-buster" comparable to Kafka and Orwell, while Michael Moorcock, writing in the Guardian, said it was written "in the tradition of Philip K Dick".

Miéville was in the US on the day of the awards ceremony, and was texted by his editor at Macmillan, Julie Crisp, to let him know that he'd won. "China was absolutely thrilled and phoned me about 30 seconds after I sent him a text," said Crisp. "He was so pleased."

She read out a speech from the author, in which he dedicated the book and the prize to his mother, Claudia, "who very much loved the crime fiction I've tried to be as faithful to here as I am to the SF I grew up with". "If Julie Crisp is saying these words to you, it means: i) that like some alien parasite I, China Miéville, am controlling what she says, ii) that I am stuck in a time paradox where I'm thanking you all for something I don't know yet, and iii) that The City & the City has won the BSFA award. Thank you so much. I cannot tell you how grateful and honoured I am," Miéville wrote in his speech. "It's been a wonderful year for wonderful shortlists, always at least as important as winners, and it has been an honour to be on this one alongside such amazing nominees."

The BSFA best short fiction prize was won by Ian Watson and Roberto Quaglia's story The Beloved Time of Their Lives, in which Jonathan travels to parallel versions of Earth in search of Elena (it can be downloaded for free here). Nick Lowe's film column Mutant Popcorn won best non-fiction – "recognition at last for some of the best film reviewing, inside genre or out," said Harrison – and best artwork was taken by Stephan Martiniere's cover for Desolation Road by Ian McDonald.