John Le Carre life and biography

John Le Carre is an author of espionage novels. During the 1950s and the 1960s, Cornwell worked for MI5 and MI6, and began writing novels under the pseudonym "John le Carré". His third novel The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1963) became an international best-seller and remains one of his best known works. Following the novel's success, he left MI6 to become a full-time author.

John Le Carré is the nom de plume of David John Moore Cornwell, an English author of literary spy novels with labyrinthine plots and an air of disillusionment. While in the British Foreign Service in the early '60s, Cornwell began writing novels. He wrote three books while in the spy business, but retired from service after the international success of his Cold War novel, The Spy Who Came In From The Cold (1963). He's churned out best-selling novels ever since and his themes of alienation and postmodern colonialism have brought comparisons to writer Graham Greene. Le Carré's trilogy of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (1974), The Honourable Schoolboy (1977) and Smiley's People (1980) was the basis for the successful 1982 British television show (with Alec Guinness as Smiley).

Films made of his novels include The Little Drummer Girl (1984, starring Diane Keaton), The Russia House (1990, starring Sean Connery), The Tailor of Panama (2001, starring Pierce Brosnan) and The Constant Gardener (2005, starring Ralph Fiennes).

Le Carré is often compared with British novelist Graham Greene.

Author of books:

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
The Tailor of Panama
The Constant Gardener

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