Arthur C. Clarke, the writer best known for his novel 2001: A Space Odyssey, has died at the age of 90.

He passed away in his home in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo because of cardio-respiratory problems, a statement said. He had been wheelchair-bound because of post polio syndrome for the last 20 years of his life.

Clarke celebrated his 90th birthday in December, when he said he wanted to be remembered as a writer “who entertained readers and hopefully stretched their imaginations as well”.

The plot for 2001: A Space Odyssey, which takes readers from the dawn of man to the rebirth of an astronaut as a star child in the future, certainly reflected that goal.

His story was turned into an enormously successful 1968 Stanley Kubrick film of the same title and publicised his work to millions. Three sequels followed in the coming years.

Clarke’s initial rise to prominence came with the publication of Childhood’s End, his fifth novel, in 1953. He published around 30 in the coming years, including Rendezvous to Rama, Imperial Earth and Firstborn, published last year.

By then he had already developed the scientific mind which won him so much respect over the years.

In the second world war he served as a radar specialist and came up with the principle of geostationary satellites, now used the world over – literally – for telecommunications networks.

Clarke received a British knighthood in 2000 having lived in Colombo since 1956. He was a Sri Lankan citizen who enjoyed underwater diving but, according to British astronomer Patrick Moore, will be best-remembered as a “great visionary, a brilliant science fiction writer and a great forecaster”.