American author Jonathan Franzen, who rose to prominence with his hit novel "The Corrections," has been honored with the third annual Frank Schirrmacher Prize.

Franzen was chosen for his epic works which tackle contemporary society with "empathy, acumen and irony." Along with the honor, he will receive 20,000 Swiss francs (roughly 18,300 euros/$19,900).

Franzen is best known for his 2001 novel "The Corrections," for which he won the National Book Award in the US.

He followed that up with "Freedom" (2010) and "Purity" (2015), the last of which deals with the subject of data security and the internet.

Previous winners

The prize, awarded by the Zurich-based foundation of the same name, takes its name after the German journalist, essayist and longtime co-publisher of the German daily newspaper "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung," who died in 2014.

Franzen is set to accept the award in Zurich in October, presented by German blogger and internet expert Sascha Lobo.

Previous winners of the Frank Schirrmacher Prize have been German author Hans Magnus Enzensberger and controversial French author Michel Houellebecq.

cmk,sd/ss (dpa/KNA)