Indian-origin writer Salman Rushdie is among the six authors shortlisted for ‘The Best of the Booker’ award, the one-off honour to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the coveted award.

According to a leading betting house Rushdie is the hot favourite to win the award for his book Midnight’s Children. The online voting for the award will commence tomorrow.

The other five authors in the race are Pat Barker (The Ghost Road), Peter Carey (Oscar and Lucinda), J M Coetzee (Disgrace), J G Farrell (The Siege of

Krishnapur) and Nadine Gordimer (The Conservationist).

The only time a special award was previously created for the Booker was in 1993 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the award. Rushdie had won the ‘Booker of Bookers’ for Midnight’s Children then.

Now after 15 years, William Hill, the betting house, has offered Rushdie 6/4 odds as the favourite to win the award again. Second favourite is Pat Barker at 3/1, followed by Peter Carey 4/1 and J M Coetzee 5/1, Nadine Gordimer 8/1 and J G Farrell 10/1.

Winning ‘The Best of the Booker’ could mean a hat-trick for either Coetzee or Peter Carey who are the only two writers to have won the Booker Prize twice.

The shortlist was selected by a panel of judges — biographer, novelist and critic Victoria Glendinning (Chair), writer and broadcaster Mariella Frostrup, and John Mullan, Professor of English at University College, London.

The overall winner will be announced as part of the London Literature Festival at the Southbank Centre on July 10 where the winner will be awarded a custom-made trophy.