Fleming was a heavy smoker and drinker for most of his life and succumbed to heart disease in 1964 at the age of 56. She had divorced her husband, the 2nd Viscount Rothermere, because of her affair with the author. In 2008, The Times ranked Fleming 14th on its list of 'The 50 greatest British writers since 1945'.įleming was married to Ann Charteris. Fleming also wrote the children's story Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang and two works of non-fiction.

The Bond stories rank among the best-selling series of fictional books of all time, having sold over 100 million copies worldwide. Bond is also known by his code number, 007, and was a commander in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve.

The novels centre around James Bond, an officer in the Secret Intelligence Service, commonly known as MI6. Eleven Bond novels and two collections of short stories followed between 19. It was a success, and three print runs were commissioned to meet the demand. He drew from his wartime service and his career as a journalist for much of the background, detail, and depth of his James Bond novels.įleming wrote his first Bond novel, Casino Royale, in 1952, at age 44. While working for Britain's Naval Intelligence Division during the Second World War, Fleming was involved in planning Operation Goldeneye and in the planning and oversight of two intelligence units: 30 Assault Unit and T-Force.

Educated at Eton, Sandhurst, and, briefly, the universities of Munich and Geneva, Fleming moved through several jobs before he started writing. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., and his father was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Henley from 1910 until his death on the Western Front in 1917. Ian Lancaster Fleming ( – 12 August 1964) was a British writer, best known for his postwar James Bond series of spy novels.

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