John le Carré

Spy novelist John le Carré, real name David Cornwell, joined the British foreign service in West Germany during which time he began writing. International success came in 1963 with his third novel, The Spy Who Came In from the Cold, widely considered to be one of the great works of the twentieth century. Le Carré returned to the character of Smiley in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, the first of the Karla trilogy comprised of The Honourable Schoolboy, and Smiley’s People. Several of his novels have been adapted for the screen including The Constant Gardener starring Rachel Weisz and Ralph Fiennes, A Most Wanted Man featuring Phillip Seymour Hoffman, and most recently Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy with an A list cast comprised of Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy and John Hurt. In 2016 the Night Manager starring Tom Hiddleston and Hugh Laurie became a hit miniseries for the BBC. John le Carré’s most recent novel A Legacy of Spies, was released in hardback in 2017.