Fleming, Ian
Created | Updated Apr 30, 2002
Born 1908, died 1964, Ian Fleming was an author of popular fiction, most notably the James Bond 007 series of novels. These included Casino Royale (1953), Live and Let Die (1954), Moonraker (1955), Diamonds Are Forever (1956), From Russia With Love (1957), Doctor No (1958), Goldfinger (1959), For Your Eyes Only (1960, a collection of five short stories, namely From A View To A Kill, Risico, For Your Eyes Only, Quantum of Solace and The Hildebrand Rarity), Thunderball (1961), The Spy Who Loved Me (1962, under the nom de plume Vivienne Michel), On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1963), You Only Live Twice (1964), The Man With The Golden Gun (1965, perportedly completed by Kingsley Amis when Fleming left the work unfinished), and Octopussy, The Living Daylights and The Property Of A Lady (1965, a short story collection published posthumously). Bond also features in the short story 007 In New York, which has not been published save in the now out-of-print non-fiction volume Thrilling Cities (by Ian Fleming).
These novels were popular at the time of their publication not only because of the nature of the hero, secret agent James Bond of MI6, number 007, who is portrayed as a callous, heartless "lone wolf" of a man, quite unlike the typical English gentleman of the fifties. Bond, Fleming tells us, is frequently in a relationship with several married women at once, not to mention the various beauties he meets on his travels, then casts aside after a few months. In the first novel, Bond realises that the only thing that can keep him going is to go after the villains of the world, in a game of Cowboys and Indians. Only this revenge for him on his enemy, whom are most often connected with the Soviet Union in some way (Bond's main foe is SMERSH, the Soviet organisation of execution and assassination - they actually existed, and are faithfully described in such novels as From Russia With Love, to the surprise of many readers at the time). Bond does find love once or twice, most notable in Tracy Di Vincenzo, whom he actually marries - a marriage which ends in tragedy. Bond is therefore left to take on the often life-threatening missions set for him by his boss, M, usually calling upon his 'licence to kill', the Double-Oh prefix. In these missions he finds he can forget the pains of the world, and experience one of the few things he actually enjoys - the sense of extreme danger.
Ian Fleming's writing style contributes stonrgly to the excellence of his Bond novels. His vast and precise knowledge of all things to do with the high life is impressive. Bond always knows which wine or champagne or vodka to have with which dish; he knows the rules to all the casino games (his favourite being Baccarat, although during the canon he plays almost every casino game imaginable); he always knows the cars, the weapons, the local customs. These little facts, figures and comments on life make the Bond novels truly irresistable, and truly readable.
Ian Fleming was succeeded as "The Man With The Golden Typrewriter" by several authors since his death. Kingsley Amis wrote one novel, Colonel Sun (1968, under the pseydonym Robert Markham), Christopher Wood wrote two film novelisations, James Bond The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), and James Bond and Moonraker (1979), which deserve to stand as Bond novels in their own right. John Gardner wrote fourteen novels between 1981 and 1995, including Licence Renewed, Icebreaker, Nobody Lives Forever, Scorpius, Win, Lose or Die and Cold. Raymond Benson is the current Bond author; his novels include Zero Minus Ten (1997), Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), The Facts Of Death (1998) and High Time To Kill (1999). James Bond short stories written by Benson also appear now and again in the Playboy magazine. All in all, whilst the magic of Fleming's original novels is not always evident, James Bond is back on his feet, has survived the Cold War, and is still very much the cold-blooded b*****d that Ian Fleming envisioned him to be.
These novels were popular at the time of their publication not only because of the nature of the hero, secret agent James Bond of MI6, number 007, who is portrayed as a callous, heartless "lone wolf" of a man, quite unlike the typical English gentleman of the fifties. Bond, Fleming tells us, is frequently in a relationship with several married women at once, not to mention the various beauties he meets on his travels, then casts aside after a few months. In the first novel, Bond realises that the only thing that can keep him going is to go after the villains of the world, in a game of Cowboys and Indians. Only this revenge for him on his enemy, whom are most often connected with the Soviet Union in some way (Bond's main foe is SMERSH, the Soviet organisation of execution and assassination - they actually existed, and are faithfully described in such novels as From Russia With Love, to the surprise of many readers at the time). Bond does find love once or twice, most notable in Tracy Di Vincenzo, whom he actually marries - a marriage which ends in tragedy. Bond is therefore left to take on the often life-threatening missions set for him by his boss, M, usually calling upon his 'licence to kill', the Double-Oh prefix. In these missions he finds he can forget the pains of the world, and experience one of the few things he actually enjoys - the sense of extreme danger.
Ian Fleming's writing style contributes stonrgly to the excellence of his Bond novels. His vast and precise knowledge of all things to do with the high life is impressive. Bond always knows which wine or champagne or vodka to have with which dish; he knows the rules to all the casino games (his favourite being Baccarat, although during the canon he plays almost every casino game imaginable); he always knows the cars, the weapons, the local customs. These little facts, figures and comments on life make the Bond novels truly irresistable, and truly readable.
Ian Fleming was succeeded as "The Man With The Golden Typrewriter" by several authors since his death. Kingsley Amis wrote one novel, Colonel Sun (1968, under the pseydonym Robert Markham), Christopher Wood wrote two film novelisations, James Bond The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), and James Bond and Moonraker (1979), which deserve to stand as Bond novels in their own right. John Gardner wrote fourteen novels between 1981 and 1995, including Licence Renewed, Icebreaker, Nobody Lives Forever, Scorpius, Win, Lose or Die and Cold. Raymond Benson is the current Bond author; his novels include Zero Minus Ten (1997), Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), The Facts Of Death (1998) and High Time To Kill (1999). James Bond short stories written by Benson also appear now and again in the Playboy magazine. All in all, whilst the magic of Fleming's original novels is not always evident, James Bond is back on his feet, has survived the Cold War, and is still very much the cold-blooded b*****d that Ian Fleming envisioned him to be.
