Archer sold more than 300 million books in his five-decade writing career, including the Clifton Chronicles and Kane and Abel, and often set the novels in his home town of Wellington, Somerset.
In a statement, Archer's publisher HarperCollins said the author died "suddenly and peacefully at home" on Monday between writing sessions.
The former Conservative MP was jailed for perjury in 2001 after being found guilty of lying and cheating in his 1987 libel case against the Daily Star.
Archer was born in north London on 15 April 1940 but would quickly move to Weston-super-Mare in Somerset, where his family bought a house from John Cleese's mother
In 1969 Archer was elected MP for the Lincolnshire constituency of Louth.
He served as an MP for five years before becoming Conservative Party deputy chairman.
His political career was paused in 2001 when he was jailed for four years for perjury and perverting the course of justice.
He was found to have lied in libel action he had brought against The Daily Star newspaper, in which he was awarded £500,000 in damages.
The Star had alleged Archer had slept with a sex worker.
The peer was found by the court to have perverted the course of justice by asking a former friend to give him a false alibi, and producing fake diary entries to back up his story.
He was also found to have perjured himself on oath during the libel trial.
