Foss, 64, is one of his country’s most prominent playwrights, having written about 40 plays as well as novels, short stories, children’s books, poetry and essays.
Mats Malm, Permanent Secretary of the Academy, announced the award on Thursday in Stockholm.
Malm said that he phoned Foss to inform him of the award and that the writer was driving in the countryside and promised to return home carefully.
Anders Olsson, chairman of the Nobel Literature Committee, said Voss’s work is rooted “in the language and nature of his Norwegian background.”
The Nobel Prizes are worth 11 million Swedish krona ($1 million) from a will left by their creator, Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel.
Winners also receive an 18-carat gold medal and certificate at the awards ceremony in December.
