News

William Boyd, the award-winning and bestselling author of Restless and Any Human Heart, is to write the next James Bond novel.

The novel, which is yet to be titled, will be published in the UK and Commonwealth in autumn 2013 by Jonathan Cape - Ian Fleming's original publisher and an imprint of Vintage Publishing - and simultaneously by HarperCollins Publishers in USA & Canada. Rights were sold in the English language by Jonny Geller of Curtis Brown, on behalf of Ian Fleming Publications Ltd.

William Boyd is the third author in recent years to be invited by the Ian Fleming estate to write an official Bond novel, following in the footsteps of the American thriller writer Jeffery Deaver, who wrote Carte Blanche in 2011, and Sebastian Faulks, whose Devil May Care was published to mark Ian Fleming's centenary in 2008.

Boyd is a writer of international acclaim whose 11 novels and short-story collections have been translated into over 30 languages with many of them adapted for film and television.  While the details and title of the next 007 adventure naturally remain secret, the author has revealed that next year's publication will mark a return to 'classic Bond' and will be set in the late 1960s.

Boyd comments: 'When the Ian Fleming estate invited me to write the new James Bond novel I accepted at once. For me the prospect appeared incredibly exciting and stimulating - a once-in-a-lifetime challenge. In fact my father introduced me to the James Bond novels in the 1960s and I read them all then - From Russia with Love being my favourite.'

Corinne Turner, Managing Director of Ian Fleming Publications Ltd, comments: 

'William Boyd is a contemporary English writer whose classic novels combine literary elements with a broad appeal.   His thrillers occupy the niche that Ian Fleming would fill were he writing today and with similar style and flair.   This alongside his fascination with Fleming himself makes him the perfect choice to take Bond back to his 1960s world.'

As well as the publication of the new novel, 2013 is a significant year for Bond, marking 60 years since Ian Fleming's first James Bond novel, Casino Royale, was published by Cape in 1953. Cape was also the publisher of the first ever official Bond novel following Fleming's death in 1964, when Kingsley Amis took up the mantle writing Colonel Sun as Robert Markham in 1968.

Dan Franklin, Publisher, Jonathan Cape comments: 'It is fantastic that Bond is returning to Cape, his birthplace, and even more so that he will do so in the hands of William Boyd. I can't think of anyone better qualified.'

'In more ways than one, William Boyd really is the perfect author to write the next chapter in the life of James Bond,' adds Tim Duggan, VP and Executive Editor of HarperCollins Publishers. 'His sophisticated storytelling, his knowledge of history and espionage, and his sheer inventiveness will all come together to make this novel as grippingly suspenseful as anything I've ever read.'

Jonny Geller, Managing Director of literary agency Curtis Brown observes: 'This is a dream come true - a fantasy literary combination. Bringing together this country's most beloved literary character with one of our finest contemporary writers will produce a classic James Bond novel, true to the spirit of Ian Fleming.'

Iris Tupholme, Vice President, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief, HarperCollins Canada remarks: 'William Boyd, whose mastery of plot and character has won him readers all over the world, is the right person to take the beloved James Bond in a new, fresh direction. We are delighted to be publishing the new Bond novel in Canada.'

Boyd's most recent novel, Waiting for Sunrise, is published by Bloomsbury in the UK and HarperCollins Publishers in the US on 17 April.

ENDS

Full Statement from William Boyd

'When the Ian Fleming estate invited me to write the new James Bond novel I didn't hesitate.  I accepted at once - for me the prospect appeared incredibly exciting and stimulating - a once-in-a-lifetime challenge.

'In fact my father introduced me to the James Bond novels in the 1960s and I read them all then - From Russia with Love being my favourite.

'I then became very intrigued by Ian Fleming the man and have written about him on numerous occasions.  The fascination went so far that I placed him as a character in my novel Any Human Heart where he's responsible for recruiting the novel's protagonist, Logan Mountstuart, into the Naval Intelligence Division in World War II.

'One other coincidence should be mentioned.  It turns out that I've worked with three of the actors who have played James Bond over the years. They've all starred in films that I've written: Sean Connery in A Good Man in Africa, Pierce Brosnan in Mr Johnson and Daniel Craig in The Trench.  The idea that these somewhat random connections with Fleming and Bond should culminate in my writing a new James Bond novel is irresistibly appealing.  The only thing I'm prepared to say at this stage about the novel that I will write is that it will be set in 1969.'

William Boyd Biography

Born in Accra Ghana in 1952, William Boyd was educated at Gordonstoun School and attended the universities of Nice, Glasgow and Jesus College, Oxford. His novels and short stories have garnered many awards, including the Whitbread, the Somerset Maugham Award, the Jonathan Llewellyn Rhys Prize, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, the Prix Jean Monnet and the Costa Novel of the Year. William Boyd is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and an Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. He has been presented with honorary Doctorates in Literature from the Universities of St Andrews, Stirling, Glasgow and Dundee and was awarded the CBE in 2005.

As a screenwriter Boyd has written a number of feature films and television productions including adaptions of his own novels - Stars and Bars (1987), A Good Man in Africa (1993); Armadillo (2001) and Any Human Heart -  a four-part drama for Channel 4 in 2010 -  which garnered much critical acclaim.

He is married and divides his time between London and the south-west of France.

Bibliography

A Good Man in Africa, 1981; On the Yankee Station and Other Stories, 1981; An Ice-Cream War, 1982; Stars and Bars, 1984; School Ties, 1985; The New Confessions, 1987; Brazzaville Beach, 1990; The Blue Afternoon, 1993; The Destiny of Natalie 'X' and Other Stories, 1995; Armadillo, 1998; Nat Tate: An American Artist 1928-1960, 1998; Any Human Heart, 2002; Fascination (collection of short stories) 2004; Bamboo, 2005 (non-fiction); Restless, 2006; The Dreams of Bethany Mellmoth (short story) Notes from the Underground, 2007; Ordinary Thunderstorms, 2009; Waiting for Sunrise,2012.

For UK media enquiries please contact:

Amy Barder or Katy Macmillan-Scott at Colman Getty

amybarder@colmangetty.co.uk / katym@colmangetty.co.uk

Tel: 020 7631 2666

Lisa Gooding at Vintage Publishing

lgooding@randomhouse.co.uk

Tel: 020 7840 8677

                                                US media enquiries please contact:

Katherine Beitner at HarperCollins Publishers

katherine.beitner@harpercollins.com

Tel: + 212/207-7522

Notes to Editors:

• The new James Bond novel by William Boyd will be published in print and ebook editions in autumn 2013 by Jonathan Cape, an imprint of Vintage Publishing, in the UK and Commonwealth, and by HarperCollins in the US and Canada

• William Boyd's books are published in the UK by Bloomsbury; in the US by HarperCollins

• A photograph of William Boyd is available through Colman Getty

• Vintage Publishing, a division of Random House, has also acquired the 10-year license to publish Ian Fleming's entire James Bond backlist in print and ebook format, along with Fleming's two non-fiction titles in the English language worldwide exc USA/Canada. Richard Cable, Managing Director, Vintage Publishing, is available for interview through Colman Getty about this and William Boyd's new Bond novel

• Tom Duggan, VP and Executive Editor of HarperCollins is available for interview through HarperCollins US

• Corinne Turner, Managing Director, Ian Fleming Publications Ltd, is available for interview through Colman Getty

• Ian Fleming Publications Ltd is the Fleming family-owned company that owns the copyright in the Bond books www.ianfleming.com

• For further information about William Boyd, visit: www.williamboyd.co.uk

Bond Books

·         Over 100 million Bond books have been sold (and over half the world's population has seen a Bond film!)

·         Ian Fleming wrote 14 James Bond books: Casino Royale,1953; Live and Let Die,1954; Moonraker,1955; Diamonds Are Forever,1956; From Russia with Love, 1957; Dr. No, 1958; Goldfinger,1959;  For your Eyes Only,1960; Thunderball,1961; The Spy Who Loved Me,1962; On Her Majesty's Secret Service, 1963; You Only Live Twice, 1964; The Man With The Golden Gun, 1965 and Octopussy and the Living Daylights, 1966

• Fleming's other works include the children's favourite, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1964), which was made into a film and  stage musical, The Diamond Smugglers (1957) and a collection of travel writings called Thrilling Cities (1963)

• The Ian Fleming centenary was celebrated on 28th May 2008 with the publication of Devil May Care by Sebastian Faulks.  

• Charlie Higson is the author of the Young Bond books which are published by Puffin in the UK

• Samantha Weinberg, writing as Kate Westbrook, is the author of the Moneypenny Diaries published by John Murray in the UK

• Other previous authors of official James Bond novels include Kingsley Amis, John Gardner and Raymond Benson