The family of Salman Rushdie said it was "extremely relieved” the renowned British author had been taken off a ventilator following his stabbing two days prior, and he retained his "defiant sense of humour”.

Rushdie’s agent, Andrew Wylie, said earlier on Sunday the wounded writer was on the "road to recovery” after he was stabbed multiple times in a shocking assault at a literary event in New York state in the US.

"We are extremely relieved that yesterday he was taken off the ventilator and additional oxygen and was able to say a few words,” Rushdie’s son Zafar tweeted.

Zafar said despite the promising news, his father remained in critical condition because of "life-changing” and "severe” injuries.

But "his usual feisty [and] defiant sense of humour remains intact”, he added.

Rushdie, 75, suffered a damaged liver and severed nerves in an arm and an eye, Wylie previously said, and was likely to lose the injured eye.

Zafar expressed his gratitude to audience members who "bravely leapt to his defence” and for the "outpouring of love and support from around the world”.