AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Over the weekend, legendary British spy novelist Len Deighton passed away. He was 97. Deighton penned more than 20 spy novels, many of them adapted into popular movies and TV shows.
MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
His first published novel debuted in 1962, "The Ipcress File," and it became a bestseller. In 1965, it was adapted into a film starring Michael Caine.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE IPCRESS FILE")
FRANK GATLIFF: (As Eric Grantby/Bluejay) You will forget all about the IPCRESS file. You have forgotten your name.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER: In truth, his name is Michael Caine, and no one will forget his name.
KELLY: That was Caine's breakout role.
CHANG: That's right. The film came out at a time when there was a surge of interest in the spy genre. The first James Bond film, "Dr. No," premiered in 1962 and was a huge success. But Deighton's spies don't drink martinis nor wear tuxedos nor drive fancy cars. Here's Michael Caine speaking about his role in a documentary about the making of "The Ipcress File."
(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "MICHAEL CAINE IS HARRY PALMER")
MICHAEL CAINE: We decided we wanted him to be the antithesis of Bond. It obviously wasn't any competition for the Bond. It wasn't another great, suave spy. It was more like a real spy, an ordinary guy who you wouldn't look at twice in the street. You know, that was that kind of thing.
KELLY: Deighton's popularity grew and grew. Many of his novels tapped into the Cold War espionage standoff between the Soviet Union and the West. "Funeral In Berlin" and "Billion Dollar Brain" - big bestsellers - they were also adapted for the screen, also starring Michael Caine.
CHANG: Deighton was revered by both critics and fans, but the literary world was reluctant to embrace someone who wrote spy thrillers. Deighton was asked how he felt about that in a 1983 interview on Thames TV in the U.K.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "AFTERNOON PLUS")
LEN DEIGHTON: I would like my publisher to put across the front of the book that the publisher and author guarantee that this book has no literary merit, whatever.
TREVOR HYATT: (Laughter).
DEIGHTON: I've got no ambition in that direction. I think it's quite complicated enough, as far as I'm concerned, to write mainstream popular fiction without adding a dimension of art.
KELLY: Historian Mark Jacobson is a fan and a former intelligence officer. He says the books offer a realistic depiction of espionage.
MARK JACOBSON: It's realistic. There's no glamour. There are no clean victories. There's moral ambiguity. There's bureaucratic constraints, institutional dysfunction.
CHANG: Deighton's death was announced by his literary agent, Tim Bates. No cause of death was given.
(SOUNDBITE OF CURTIS MAYFIELD'S "THINK") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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