John le Carré bibliography

This is a list of works by or featuring David John Moore Cornwell, a British author better known by his pseudonym John le Carré. It also includes a list of film, television, and radio adaptations of le Carré's writing.

## Novels[edit]

Year | Title | Identifier | Highest
NYT position
reached | Number
of weeks
on NYT list | Notes

|
|
|
|
|

1961 | Call for the Dead | OCLC 751303381 | — | — |
1962 | A Murder of Quality | OCLC 777015390 | — | — |
1963 | The Spy Who Came in from the Cold | OCLC 561198531 | #1 | 56 | number one for most of 1964
1965 | The Looking Glass War | OCLC 752987890 | #5 | 14-16 | weeks uncertain due to NYT strike
1968 | A Small Town in Germany | ISBN 0-143-12260-6 | #2 | 28 |
1971 | The Naïve and Sentimental Lover | ISBN 0-143-11975-3 | #10 | 2 |
1974 | Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy | ISBN 0-143-12093-X | #1 | 40 |
1977 | The Honourable Schoolboy | ISBN 0-143-11973-7 | #3 | 33 |
1979 | Smiley's People | ISBN 0-340-99439-8 | #1 | 28 |
1983 | The Little Drummer Girl | ISBN 0-143-11974-5 | #1 | 34 |
1986 | A Perfect Spy | ISBN 0-143-11976-1 | #1 | 22 |
1989 | The Russia House | ISBN 0-743-46466-4 | #1 | 21 |
1990 | The Secret Pilgrim | ISBN 0-345-50442-9 | #1 | 12 |
1993 | The Night Manager | ISBN 0-345-38576-4 | #3 | 13 |
1995 | Our Game | ISBN 0-345-40000-3 | #2 | 9 |
1996 | The Tailor of Panama | ISBN 0-345-42043-8 | #7 | 7 |
1999 | Single & Single | ISBN 0-743-45806-0 | #3 | 7 |
2001 | The Constant Gardener | ISBN 0-743-28720-7 | #4 | 9 |
2003 | Absolute Friends | ISBN 0-670-04489-X | #3 | 9 |
2006 | The Mission Song | ISBN 0-340-92199-4 | #3 | 3 |
2008 | A Most Wanted Man | ISBN 1-416-59609-7 | #4 | 4 |
2010 | Our Kind of Traitor | ISBN 0-143-11972-9 | #7 | 3 |
2013 | A Delicate Truth | ISBN 0-143-12531-1 | #6 | 4 |
2017 | A Legacy of Spies | ISBN 0-7352-2511-7[1] | #1 | 6 |
2019 | Agent Running in the Field | ISBN 1-9848-7887-5 | #5 | 1 |
2021 | Silverview | ISBN 0-241-55006-8 | #6 | 3 | posthumous

Source: The New York Times Best Seller list[2] Figures are for the Adult Hardcover Fiction lists, 1961 through 2021: highest position reached and total number of weeks on list (possibly nonconsecutive). A "—" indicates it did not make the list. Note that the Times list consisted of a Top 10 from 1963 through 1976, but a Top 15 or 16 in the covered years before and after.

### George Smiley omnibus volumes[edit]

* The Incongruous Spy (1964), containing Call for the Dead and A Murder of Quality, OCLC 851437951
* The Quest for Karla (1982), containing Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Honourable Schoolboy and Smiley's People (republished in 1995 as Smiley Versus Karla in the UK; and John Le Carré: Three Complete Novels in the U.S.), ISBN 0-394-52848-4

## Short stories[edit]

* "Dare I Weep, Dare I Mourn?" (1967), in Saturday Evening Post, 28 January 1967
* "What Ritual is Being Observed Tonight?" (1968), in Saturday Evening Post, 2 November 1968[3]
* "The Writer and the Horse" (published in the US as "A Writer and A Gentleman") (1968), in The Savile Club Centenary Magazine and later in The Argosy and The Saturday Review (November 30, 1968)[4]
* "The King Who Never Spoke" (2009), in Ox-Tales: Fire, 2 July 2009[5]

## Non-fiction[edit]

* The Good Soldier (1991), collected in Granta 35: The Unbearable Peace[6]
* The United States Has Gone Mad (2003), collected in Not One More Death (2006), ISBN 1-844-67116-X
* Afterword (2014), an essay on Kim Philby, published in A Spy Among Friends by Ben Macintyre[7]
* The Pigeon Tunnel: Stories from My Life (2016), ISBN 978-0-241-97687-6[8] Appeared at #10 for one week on the New York Times Best Seller nonfiction list.
* A Private Spy: The Letters of John le Carré 1945-2020 (2022), ISBN 978-0241550090

## Film[edit]

### Screenplays[edit]

Source(s):[9]

* End of the Line (1970)
* Smiley's People (1982) with John Hopkins
* A Murder of Quality (1991)
* The Tailor of Panama (2001), with John Boorman and Andrew Davies[10]

### Executive producer[edit]

Source(s):[9]

* The Tailor of Panama (2001)
* Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)
* A Most Wanted Man (2014)
* The Night Manager (2016)
* Our Kind of Traitor (2016)
* The Little Drummer Girl (2018)

### Actor[edit]

Source(s):[9]

* The Little Drummer Girl (1984), as David Cornwell[11]
* Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011), as John le Carré[12]\- as participant at the Christmas party.
* The Night Manager (2016), as David Cornwell[13] \- as the offended guest at a restaurant.
* Our Kind of Traitor (2016) - as a ticket seller at the museum.
* The Little Drummer Girl (2018)[14]

## Adaptations[edit]

After many years of working with various producers who made film adaptations of his novels, two of Cornwell's sons, Simon and Stephen, founded the production company The Ink Factory in 2010. This was to produce adaptations of his works as well as other film productions. The Ink Factory has produced the films A Most Wanted Man and Our Kind of Traitor, and the TV series The Night Manager and The Little Drummer Girl.[15]

### Film[edit]

Source(s):[16]

* The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965), directed by Martin Ritt, with Richard Burton as the protagonist, Alec Leamas
* The Deadly Affair (1967), an adaptation of Call for the Dead, directed by Sidney Lumet, with James Mason as Charles Dobbs (George Smiley in the novel)
* The Looking Glass War (1970), directed by Frank Pierson, with Anthony Hopkins as Avery, Christopher Jones as Leiser, and Sir Ralph Richardson as LeClerc
* The Little Drummer Girl (1984), directed by George Roy Hill, with Diane Keaton as Charlie
* The Russia House (1990), directed by Fred Schepisi, with Sean Connery as Barley Blair
* The Tailor of Panama (2001), directed by John Boorman, with Pierce Brosnan as Andy Osnard, a disgraced spy, and Geoffrey Rush as the emigre English tailor Harry Pendel
* The Constant Gardener (2005), directed by Fernando Meirelles, with Ralph Fiennes as Justin Quayle, set in the slums in Kibera and Loiyangalani, Kenya; the poverty so affected the film crew that they established the Constant Gardener Trust to provide basic education to those areas (John le Carré was a patron of the charity)[17][18]
* Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011), directed by Tomas Alfredson and starring Gary Oldman as George Smiley
* A Most Wanted Man (2014), directed by Anton Corbijn and starring Philip Seymour Hoffman
* Our Kind of Traitor (2016), directed by Susanna White and starring Ewan McGregor

### Radio[edit]

* The Russia House (1994), BBC Radio 4, featuring Tom Baker as Barley Blair[19]
* The Complete Smiley (2009–2010) BBC Radio 4, an eight-part radio-play series, based on the novels featuring George Smiley, commencing with Call for the Dead, broadcast on 23 May 2009, with Simon Russell Beale as George Smiley, and concluding with The Secret Pilgrim in June 2010[20]
* A Delicate Truth (May 2013), BBC Radio 4's Book at Bedtime, recorded by Damian Lewis[21]
* Abridged excerpts from The Pigeon Tunnel, broadcast as BBC Radio 4's Book of the Week, commencing on 12 September 2016[22]

### Television[edit]

Source(s):[16]

* Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1979), BBC seven-part television series, with Alec Guinness as George Smiley
* Smiley's People (1982), BBC television series, with Alec Guinness as George Smiley
* A Perfect Spy (1987), BBC television adaptation directed by Peter Smith, with Peter Egan as Magnus Pym and Ray McAnally as Rick
* A Murder of Quality (1991), Thames Television adaptation directed by Gavin Millar, with Denholm Elliott as George Smiley and Joss Ackland as Terence Fielding
* The Night Manager (2016), BBC and AMC series, adapted by screenwriter David Farr and directed by Susanne Bier, with Tom Hiddleston as Jonathan Pine and Hugh Laurie as Richard Onslow Roper
* The Little Drummer Girl (2018), BBC and AMC series, directed by Park Chan-wook, with Florence Pugh as Charlie Ross, Michael Shannon as Martin Kurtz, and Alexander Skarsgård as Gadi Becker. [23]

## References[edit]

1. ^ Kean, Danuta (7 March 2017). "George Smiley to return in new John le Carré novel, A Legacy of Spies". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 8 March 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
2. ^ "Adult New York Times Best Seller Listings". Hawes Publications. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
3. ^ "Famous Contributors: John le Carré". The Saturday Evening Post. 31 October 2012. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
4. ^ "Manuscript Auction". Retrieved 30 August 2021.
5. ^ "Ox-Tales:Fire | Babel | TinyCat". Babel. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
6. ^ Le Carré, John; Buford, Bill (1991). The Unbearable Peace. Cambridge: Granta Publications. ISBN 978-0-14-015204-3. OCLC 25847433.
7. ^ Robert McCrum (9 March 2014). "A Spy Among Friends Review: Kim Philby's Treacherous Friendship with Nicholas Elliot". The Observer. Archived from the original on 24 March 2014. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
8. ^ Penguin Random House to Publish John le Carré's Memoir in September 2016, Le Carré Productions, 9 October 2015, archived from the original on 2 March 2016, retrieved 21 February 2016
9. ^ a b c "John le Carré". BFI. Archived from the original on 21 November 2020. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
10. ^ "The Tailor of Panama (2001)". BFI. Archived from the original on September 13, 2017. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
11. ^ "'The Little Drummer Girl': John Le Carre makes appearance in second adaptation of his 1983 novel". meaww.com. 14 November 2018. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
12. ^ "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)". BFI. Archived from the original on March 10, 2017. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
13. ^ Foster, Patrick (11 October 2016). "'Very naughty' John le Carre tried to beef up cameo role in The Night Manager". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
14. ^ Hoffman, Jordan (19 November 2018). "Everything You Need to Know About AMC's Spy Miniseries 'The Little Drummer Girl'". Thrillist. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
15. ^ Macnab, Geoffrey (30 October 2018). "The Brit 50: The Ink Factory". Screen International. Archived from the original on 14 December 2020. Retrieved 2020-12-14.
16. ^ a b "John le Carré". BFI. Archived from the original on 21 November 2020. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
17. ^ Nigel Eltringham (2013). Framing Africa: Portrayals of a Continent in Contemporary Mainstream Cinema. Berghahn Books. pp. 83–85. ISBN 9781782380740. Archived from the original on 14 December 2020. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
18. ^ Julian Friedland (2009). Doing Well and Good: The Human Face of the New Capitalism. IAP. p. 205\. ISBN 9781607521761. Archived from the original on 14 December 2020. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
19. ^ "The Russia House". The Radio Times. No. 3680\. 21 July 1994. p. 103\. ISSN 0033-8060. Archived from the original on 14 December 2020. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
20. ^ "The Complete Smiley". BBC Radio 4. Archived from the original on 28 May 2009. Retrieved 23 May 2009.
21. ^ "John le Carre: 'My Frustration with Britain'". BBC News. 13 May 2013. Archived from the original on 9 June 2013. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
22. ^ "The Pigeon Tunnel: Stories from My Life by John le Carre, Book of the Week". BBC Radio 4. Archived from the original on 24 September 2017. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
23. ^ Patterson, Troy (16 November 2018). ""The Little Drummer Girl," Reviewed: A Fever Dream of Glamorous Espionage". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on 1 January 2020. Retrieved 14 December 2020.

* v
* t
* e

Works by John le Carré

Novels|

* Call for the Dead (1961)
* A Murder of Quality (1962)
* The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1963)
* The Looking Glass War (1965)
* A Small Town in Germany (1968)
* The Naïve and Sentimental Lover (1971)
* Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1974)
* The Honourable Schoolboy (1977)
* Smiley's People (1979)
* The Little Drummer Girl (1983)
* A Perfect Spy (1986)
* The Russia House (1989)
* The Secret Pilgrim (1990)
* The Night Manager (1993)
* Our Game (1995)
* The Tailor of Panama (1996)
* Single & Single (1999)
* The Constant Gardener (2001)
* Absolute Friends (2003)
* The Mission Song (2006)
* A Most Wanted Man (2008)
* Our Kind of Traitor (2010)
* A Delicate Truth (2013)
* A Legacy of Spies (2017)
* Agent Running in the Field (2019)
* Silverview (2021)

Films|

* The Spy Who Came In from the Cold (1965)
* The Deadly Affair (1967)
* The Looking Glass War (1970)
* The Little Drummer Girl (1984)
* The Russia House (1990)
* The Tailor of Panama (2001)
* The Constant Gardener (2005)
* Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)
* A Most Wanted Man (2014)
* Our Kind of Traitor (2016)

Television|

* Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1979)
* Smiley's People (1982)
* A Perfect Spy (1987)
* A Murder of Quality (1991)
* The Night Manager (2016)
* The Little Drummer Girl (2018)

Characters|

* Control
* Toby Esterhase
* Peter Guillam
* Bill Haydon
* Karla
* Jim Prideaux
* Connie Sachs
* George Smiley
* Gerald Westerby

Miscellaneous|

* Moscow Centre
* Constant Gardener Trust
* The Incongruous Spy
* Smiley Versus Karla

* Category

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