Agent Running in the Field: A Novel
by John le Carré
Agent Running in the Field is the latest spy novel from the number one New York Times bestselling author John le Carré.
John Le Carré (real name: David Cornwell) is a very widely recommended author on Five Books. His books turn up again and again in interviews on both literary thrillers and espionage more generally. His most recommended books include The Spy Who Came in From the Cold and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.
Recommendations from our site
Everyone has heard of the great spy novelist, John le Carré. What you might not know is that octogenarian has narrated the audiobook of his latest book, Agent Running in the Field, himself.
Narrator: John le Carré
Length: 9 hours and 33 minutes
In John le Carré’s Agent Running in the Field, MI6 veteran Nat takes over the management of a London intelligence substation – the Haven, “a dumping ground for resettled defectors of nil value and fifth-rate informants on the skids.” He also befriends a solitary young MI5 agent who is both dead set against the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union and convinced that the United States is locked into a descent into fascism, led by Donald Trump.
Set in Brexit-era Britain, Agent Running in the Field serves both as espionage thriller and biting take on the politics of the day; le Carré is not afraid to express his own anger over the leadership of his country, describing the UK government as ruled by “a minority Tory cabinet of 10th-raters”, and portrays Boris Johnson as then “a pig-ignorant foreign secretary”.
Le Carré’s editor at Viking, Mary Mount, described Agent Running in the Field as “incredibly prescient, and a very emotional book in terms of how connected he feels to the history of Britain and Europe. There’s no looking away, he addresses the very current political crisis.”
Commentary