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John le Carré

ジョン・ル・カレ

Jon ru Kare

Aliases: David John Moore Cornwell
Pen Names: John le Carré（Pen name used for his novels）

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1931-10-19 （Poole, Dorset, England）
Died
2020-12-12 （Truro, Cornwall, England） age 89
Nationality
United Kingdom, Ireland
Languages
English
Residence History
Poole (birth) → Hamburg (worked) → Bonn (worked) → Bern (studied) → Oxford (studied) → Truro (death)

Career

Occupations
Novelist, Former intelligence officer (MI5/MI6), Screenwriter
Active Years
1961-2020
Affiliations
MI5 (Security Service), MI6 (Secret Intelligence Service)

Education

University of Bern
Period: 1950年代（在籍）
Country: Switzerland
Studied for a period during early career/education
Lincoln College, University of Oxford
Period: 1950年代（在籍）
Country: United Kingdom
Studied at Oxford
Eton College (teaching post)
Period: 1950年代（教職）
Country: United Kingdom
Taught for two years

Awards

Edgar Award — Best Novel
1965
Work: The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
Organization: Mystery Writers of America
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Call for the Dead

1961 Spy fiction

Le Carré's debut novel featuring the early appearance of George Smiley; a spy story based on his intelligence experience.

EspionageMistrust
Adaptations
  • [Film] The Deadly Affair / Sidney Lumet (1966)
Translations
  • Call for the Dead

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold

1963 Spy fiction

A Cold War spy novel that brought Le Carré international fame; Smiley appears in a supporting role.

Cold WarBetrayalMoral ambiguity
Adaptations
  • [Film] The Spy Who Came in from the Cold / Martin Ritt (1965)
Translations
  • The Spy Who Came in from the Cold

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

1974 Spy fiction

One of the major Smiley novels, dealing with a mole at the heart of the British intelligence service.

BetrayalSecrecyOrganizational decay
Adaptations
  • [Film] Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy / Tomas Alfredson (2011)
  • [TV miniseries] Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (BBC) (1979)
Translations
  • Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

The Honourable Schoolboy

1977 Spy fiction

Second volume of the Smiley trilogy, set partly in Southeast Asia during the Cold War.

Cold WarEspionage
Translations
  • The Honourable Schoolboy

Smiley's People

1979 Spy fiction

The concluding volume of the Smiley trilogy in which Smiley resolves the central mystery.

RetributionReflection
Adaptations
  • [TV miniseries] Smiley's People (BBC) (1982)
Translations
  • Smiley's People

The Little Drummer Girl

1983 Spy fiction

A novel about a young actress entangled with espionage related to the Palestinian cause.

TerrorismPolitical manipulation
Adaptations
  • [Film] The Little Drummer Girl / George Roy Hill (1984)
  • [TV miniseries] The Little Drummer Girl (BBC) (2018)
Translations
  • The Little Drummer Girl

A Perfect Spy

1986 Spy fiction

A largely autobiographical novel exploring father-son relationships and espionage.

FamilyBetrayal
Translations
  • A Perfect Spy

The Tailor of Panama

1997 Spy fiction / Satire

A satirical spy novel about a tailor in Panama who becomes involved with intelligence operations.

Political satireEspionage
Adaptations
  • [Film] The Tailor of Panama / John Boorman (2001)
Translations
  • The Tailor of Panama

The Constant Gardener

2001 Spy fiction / Political thriller

A political thriller involving pharmaceutical companies and corruption; adapted into a film.

GlobalizationCorporate wrongdoing
Adaptations
  • [Film] The Constant Gardener / Fernando Meirelles (2005)
Translations
  • The Constant Gardener

A Legacy of Spies

2017 Spy fiction

A return to Smiley and a re-examination of past missions and moral responsibility.

Reckoning with the pastResponsibility
Translations
  • A Legacy of Spies

Silverview

2021 Spy fiction

Published posthumously as his final novel, concerns a small town and outside influences.

SecretsInterpersonal dynamics
Translations
  • Silverview

Bibliography

  • Call for the Dead (1961)
  • The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1963)
  • Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (1974)
  • The Honourable Schoolboy (1977)
  • Smiley's People (1979)
  • The Little Drummer Girl (1983)
  • A Perfect Spy (1986)
  • The Tailor of Panama (1997)
  • The Constant Gardener (2001)
  • A Legacy of Spies (2017)
  • Silverview (2021)

Adaptations

  • The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (film adaptation)
  • Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (film & TV adaptations)
  • The Constant Gardener (film adaptation)
  • The Tailor of Panama (film adaptation)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Calm, detailed proseRealistic style emphasizing internal psychologyDepiction of bureaucratic inner workings of intelligence services
Recurring Motifs
BetrayalMoral ambiguityCold War tensionsSecrecy and surveillance

Health

  • Pneumonia
    2020年（死没時）
    Cause of death

Legacy

He reinvented Cold War spy fiction with incisive portrayals of intelligence services' interiors, earning global acclaim. Many works were translated and adapted, cementing his place as a major figure in contemporary spy literature.

In Popular Culture

  • Numerous film and television adaptations of his works have influenced popular culture

Trivia

  • Born David John Moore Cornwell.
  • Worked for MI5 and (briefly) MI6 early in his career, which influenced his fiction.
  • His son Nicholas Cornwell writes as Nick Harkaway.
  • It was disclosed posthumously that he had acquired Irish citizenship.