The name’s Boyd – William Boyd

The writer, who last year produced the screenplay for the Bafta-award winning TV adaptation of Any Human Heart, has been invited by the Ian Fleming estate to write an official Bond novel.

Due to be released next year, on the 60th anniversary of the publication of debut Bond thriller, Casino Royale, the as-yet unnamed book will see the suave English spy return to classic 1960s form.

And for the family of the writer, who died in 1964, William Boyd was the perfect choice for his re-incarnation.

“Ian Fleming’s family were very much part of the choice,” Jonny Geller, of Curtis Brown, the literary agent for the Ian Fleming estate and for Boyd told Channel 4 News. “They were incredibly positive as they are big fans of William Boyd’s writing. When I was reading the manuscript for his current book, Waiting for Sunrise, it just clicked: it would be brilliant if he could write it.”

Phone apps

But unlike his predecessor, Jeffrey Deaver, Boyd has vowed to keep Bond firmly in his place as a swinging sixties hero far more similar to that which emerged in Royale – named to coincide with the Queen’s coronation and penned while Fleming was in Jamaica. Comments on BBC Radio 4 have been taken as a thinly veiled swipe at Deaver, who peppered his 2011 novel, Carte Blanche, with modern phone apps and used the war in Afghanistan as a backdrop for his gripping tale.

Boyd said: “I don’t quite see the point of moving the novel forward in time. What’s fascinating about Fleming and Bond is the time in which it’s set.”

The writer is the third in recent years to be invited by the Ian Fleming estate to write an official Bond novel, following in the footsteps of Birdsong author, Sebastian Faulks, who preceded Deaver when he wrote Devil May Care to mark Fleming’s centenary in 2008.

“James Bond is one of the most famous English characters in the world, after the Queen and Harry Potter.” Jonny Geller, Curtis Brown

But as Mr Geller pointed out, James Bond is one of the most famous English characters in the world, “after the Queen and Harry Potter”.

Since his creation in 1953, he has featured in 12 novels and two short story collections by Fleming alone. Six other authors between Fleming and Boyd have put pen to paper in the name of 007: Kingsley Amis, Christopher Wood, John Gardner, Raymond Benson, Faulks and Deaver.

Fast Show star Charlie Higson wrote a series on a young James Bond, and recurring character, Moneypenny, has featured in its own spin-off in three novels based on the character’s diaries written by Kate Westbrook. The character is one of the few who has spawned a biography, by John Pearson, although he has never lived.

Film star appeal

But despite becoming a household name who continues to fly off the bookshelves, he is better known to millions as the dashing silver screen icon played by actors ranging from Sean Connery to Roger Moore to Daniel Craig, and has been at the centre of the second-highest grossing film franchise to date. Not to mention his numerous TV, comic strip, radio and video game appearances.

No wonder, then, Mr Geller compares him to other English great characters: Hamlet, or fellow secret serviceman George Smiley, the creation of spy writer John Le Carre. As with Bond, these characters share adaptability, versatility and multi-dimensional appeal that can be moulded to different formats, styles and audiences.

“Some of the great characters in literature are frames within a frame,” Mr Geller said. “When you’ve got a great character, allowing the reader to bring their imagination to your work – that’s what separates great writers from not so great writers.”

And Bond is a character whose imperfection only adds to his perfection. “People identify with a character who’s flawed, or who is outside the system, and that was in all Ian Fleming’s characters. Even though Bond was, and is, still, a servant of the state. Sometimes he behaves very badly, and sometimes he is like a perfect gentleman.”

Yet Mr Geller accepts that such a large Bond franchise allows one format to fuel another. Asked about the appeal of the British secret service agent over a near 60 years, he said: “I think it’s helped by the movies which keep on getting regenerated and reimagined. When you’ve got an enduring character, such as Sherlock Holmes, Doctor Who or James Bond, people always go back to them.”

Tomorrow never dies, especially not for Bond.