CALL FOR THE DEAD by John Le Carre

July 14, 2016

PERSONAL INFORMATION: John Le Carre is the pseudonym of David John Moore Cornwell.

Born October 19, 1931, in Poole, Dorsetshire, England; Education: Attended Bern University, Switzerland, 1948-49; Lincoln College, Oxford, B.A. (with honors), 1956. Military/Wartime Service: British Army Intelligence Corps, beginning 1949. Addresses: Home: London, England; Cornwall, England. Agent: Bruce Hunter, David Higham Ltd., 5-8 Lower John St., Golden Sq., London W1F 9HA, England.

CAREER:

Writer. Millfield Junior School, Glastonbury, Somerset, England, teacher, 1954-55; Eton College, Buckinghamshire, England, tutor, 1956-58; British Foreign Office, second secretary in Bonn, West Germany (now Germany), 1960-63, consul in Hamburg, West Germany (now Germany), 1963-64.

Le Carré's espionage novels are concerned with the conflicts between duty and honor as well as the tension between man and institution. Le Carré's first novel, Call for the Dead, introduces the character of George Smiley, who would become a seminal figure in the author's work. Regarded as the antithesis of the glamorous James Bond, Smiley is a nearsighted, ordinary-looking man--but a brilliant, relentless, and cunning spy.

Novels

• Call for the Dead , 1960, [published as The Deadly Affair, 1966.] [Smiley, #1]

British undercover agent George Smiley accepts one final mission to reveal an insidious plot which may involve a suspect civil servant and a one­time hero of the German underground.

• A Murder of Quality 1962, [Smiley, #2]
• The Spy Who Came in from the Cold , 1963 [Smiley #3]
• The Incongruous Spy: Two Novels of Suspense (contains Call for the Dead and A Murder of Quality), 1964.
• The Looking Glass War, 1965.
• A Small Town in Germany (also see below), 1968
• The Naive and Sentimental Lover, 1971
• Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy 1974. [Smiley, #4]
• The Honourable Schoolboy, 1977. [Smiley, #5]
• Smiley's People , 1980. [Smiley, #6]
• The Quest for Karla (contains Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, The Honourable Schoolboy, and Smiley's People), 1982.
• Three Complete Novels (contains The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, A Small Town in Germany, and The Looking Glass War), 1983.
• The Little Drummer Girl, 1983,
• A Perfect Spy, 1986.
• The Russia House, 1989
• The Secret Pilgrim, 1991, [Smiley, #7]
• The Night Manager, 1993.
• Our Game, Knopf, 1995.
• John le Carré: Three Complete Novels (contains Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, The Honourable Schoolboy, and Smiley's People), 1995.
• The Tailor of Panama 1996.
• Single & Single 1999.
• The Constant Gardener, 2001.
• Absolute Friends, 2003.
• The Mission Song, 2006.
• A Most Wanted Man, 2008.
• Our Kind of Traitor, 2010.

Read­alikes George Smiley novels:

1. Bernard Samson novels by Len Deighton, Reason: The Karla Trilogy and the Bernard Samson Novels are leisurely ­paced, intricately­ plotted spy novels. These stories unfold, layer by layer, against a morally ambiguous background and have well developed characters. The authors both employ a world ­weary wit, but the Samson Novels have a slightly lighter tone overall than the Karla Trilogy. ­­ Rebecca Sigmon

2. Paul Christopher novels by Charles McCarry, Reason: The Karla trilogy and the Paul Christopher Novels are layered, intricate spy novels in which duplicity and betrayal are common. These series both include accurate details about spying and the intelligence community. Additionally, the characters are morally complicated and realistic, and the writing style is sophisticated. ­­ Rebecca Sigmon

Read- alikes for John LeCarre

Graham Greene tells sophisticated stories pondering the nature of sin and humanity while maintaining a high level of suspense

Henning Mankell writes lengthy, complex and character driven books, with plenty of introspection, wrestling with complex moral issues and wrapped in a suspenseful plot.

Eric Ambler is another author who writes intelligent, tightly plotted, and realistic spy stories.

Focusing on the human side of spycraft, both John le Carré and Ted Allbeury craft themes of loyalty and betrayal among the paradoxical fellowship of spies.

Fans of John le Carré's spy novels may appreciate Ward Just's realistic novels of political intrigue, written in a similarly compelling and psychologically acute style.

Fans of John le Carre's mastery of the cerebral spy thriller should also try Daniel Silva, who writes elegantly of ambiguous characters and bleak atmospheres

Both John le Carré and and Charles Cumming write intelligent and intricately plotted spy novels full of spycraft and procedural details that draw on their experience working for British spy agencies.