An IT director Farahad Zama’s has been awarded the Melissa Nathan award for comedy romance, beating out an five other shortlisted authors, all female.

The Guardian reports that Zama is the first man to win the award and that he wrote this, his debut, novel in 300 word chunks on his 40 minute commute to work.

The Novel The Marriage Bureau for Rich People is, as Zama discribes it, “not a typical chick lit book. It’s set in India, and deals with reasonably serious topics – but at heart it is a romantic novel.”

This is the second year that the Melissa Nathan award has been given, it comes with a £5,000 prize, is the only award in the UK for comedy romance, and is awarded in memory of Melissa Nathan - a bestselling athor who died of cancer in 2006.