Photo: Sophie Bassouls/Sygma/Sygma via Getty Images (1990)
Sample of authors
Raymond, Derek
English author, who during a Bohemian and wandering life occupied himself with a number of different jobs and activities, a by-no-means small part of them criminal. This is also reflected in his books: he is known as a pioneer in the crime-literature sub-genre called ‘British noir’, and which is usually set in environments and among people at the bottom of society. The books have been criticised f...
Literary figures
George Smiley
Gender: Male
He is rather fat, has been said to liken a toad, and is married to the beautiful and forever unfaithful Lady Ann Sercombe. Besides which, George Smiley is a lethal agent with the British Secret Service in a suite of novels by John Le Carré. Before retiring, he also becomes the director of the secret service. In some of the early books, he is however more active as a detective.