John le Carre fans are getting one last novel.
When the British spy author died aged 89 in December, he had published 25 novels over the span of six decades and was still writing, leaving behind one last complete, full-length novel.
Now Viking, le Carre's publisher, has announced that the novel will be titled Silverview and be released on October 14, in the week that would have been the author's 90th birthday.
The story centres on a small-town bookseller named Julian Lawndsley who is drawn into a spy leak.
“This is the authentic le Carre, telling one more story,” Nick Cornwell, le Carre’s youngest son and an author who writes under the pen name Nick Harkaway, said. “The book is fraught, forensic, lyrical and fierce, at long last searching the soul of the modern Secret Intelligence Service itself. It’s a superb and fitting final novel.”
Le Carre shot to fame during the chilly depths of the Cold War as master of the spy thriller, before evolving to become a scathing chronicler of the moral costs of globalisation.
Called a "literary giant" by horror author Stephen King, le Carre was a master of the spy genre, with The New York Times dubbing him "the pre-eminent spy writer of the 20th century". He penned classics such as Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, A Perfect Spy and The Honourable Schoolboy.
It was his third novel, 1963's The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, which won him global acclaim, with Our Man in Havana author Graham Greene calling it "the best spy story I ever read".
Having worked during the 1950s and 1960s for British security service MI5, as well as secret intelligence service MI6, le Carre (born David Cornwell) was perfectly positioned to turn his hand to espionage novels. His books were later adapted for film and TV, with characters such as George Smiley becoming popular.
Scroll through our gallery below to see photos of John le Carre through the years.
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John le Carre shown on dark rainy street in Hamburg in 1964. Getty Images -
John le Carre at home with his wife Alison and their three sons, Stephen, Simon and baby Timothy in 1964. Getty Images -
John le Carre see in 1965. Getty Images -
John Le Carre lighting his pipe in 1980. Getty Images -
A window display promoting the upcoming serialisation of the John Le Carre spy novel 'The Looking Glass War' in the Daily Express newspaper at the Daily Express Building in Fleet Street, 1965. Getty Images -
John le Carre shark fishing in 1974. Getty Images -
A portrait of John le Carre in 1980. Getty Images -
British writer John le Carre at home in Cornwall in February 1983. Getty Images -
Gary Oldman and John Le Carre arriving for the UK Premiere of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy, in London in 2011. Getty Images -
John Le Carre attends the 'The Night Manager' premiere during the Berlinale International Film Festival Berlin in 2016. Getty Images -
Florence Pugh, Michael Shannon, Park Chan-wook, John le Carre and Alexander Skarsgard attend the World Premiere of "The Little Drummer Girl" at the 62nd BFI London Film Festival in 2018. Getty Images
