Agent Running in the Field
A BBC 2 Between the Covers Book Club Pick
Published on 17. October 2019
Audio
CD-Audio
978-0-241-40293-1 (ISBN)
Description
Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Agent Running in the Field written and read by John le Carre.
Nat, a 47 year-old veteran of Britain's Secret Intelligence Service, believes his years as an agent runner are over. He is back in London with his wife, the long-suffering Prue. But with the growing threat from Moscow Centre, the office has one more job for him. Nat is to take over The Haven, a defunct substation of London General with a rag-tag band of spies. The only bright light on the team is young Florence, who has her eye on Russia Department and a Ukrainian oligarch with a finger in the Russia pie.
Nat is not only a spy, he is a passionate badminton player. His regular Monday evening opponent is half his age: the introspective and solitary Ed. Ed hates Brexit, hates Trump and hates his job at some soulless media agency. And it is Ed, of all unlikely people, who will take Prue, Florence and Nat himself down the path of political anger that will ensnare them all. Agent Running in the Field is a chilling portrait of our time, now heartbreaking, now darkly humorous, told to us with unflagging tension by the greatest chronicler of our age.
________________________________
'No other writer has charted - pitilessly for politicians but thrillingly for readers - the public and secret histories of his times' Guardian
'John le Carre is as recognisable a writer as Dickens or Austen' Financial Times
'No writer has ever been better at turning the act of two people talking politely to each other across a desk into a blood sport' Telegraph
Nat, a 47 year-old veteran of Britain's Secret Intelligence Service, believes his years as an agent runner are over. He is back in London with his wife, the long-suffering Prue. But with the growing threat from Moscow Centre, the office has one more job for him. Nat is to take over The Haven, a defunct substation of London General with a rag-tag band of spies. The only bright light on the team is young Florence, who has her eye on Russia Department and a Ukrainian oligarch with a finger in the Russia pie.
Nat is not only a spy, he is a passionate badminton player. His regular Monday evening opponent is half his age: the introspective and solitary Ed. Ed hates Brexit, hates Trump and hates his job at some soulless media agency. And it is Ed, of all unlikely people, who will take Prue, Florence and Nat himself down the path of political anger that will ensnare them all. Agent Running in the Field is a chilling portrait of our time, now heartbreaking, now darkly humorous, told to us with unflagging tension by the greatest chronicler of our age.
________________________________
'No other writer has charted - pitilessly for politicians but thrillingly for readers - the public and secret histories of his times' Guardian
'John le Carre is as recognisable a writer as Dickens or Austen' Financial Times
'No writer has ever been better at turning the act of two people talking politely to each other across a desk into a blood sport' Telegraph
Reviews / Votes
A fine piece of storytelling. It is a neat, compact, slow-burning tale with just the right amount of twisting and turning and misdirection. Divided loyalties, uncertain motives, Russian agents, bureaucratic infighting, jaded spies, tatty offices - all of the things you want and expect from a high-quality le Carre thriller are here * The Times * A very classy entertainment about political ideals and deception . . . laced with fury at the senseless vandalism of Brexit and of Trump. Le Carre is the master of the spy genre. * Guardian * Le Carre delivers a tale for our times, replete with the classic seasoning of betrayal, secret state shenanigans and sad-eyed human frailty, all baked into an oven-hot contemporary thriller . . . Agent Running in the Field is right on the money, in psychology as much as politics, a demonstration of the British spy thriller at its unputdownable best * Robert McCrum, Observer * As ingeniously structured as any of le Carre's fiction, skilfully misdirecting the reader for much of the time * Evening Standard * A masterpiece * Mick Herron, TLS * Master of the game * Sunday Times * Le Carre's troubled new protagonist is developed with the author's customary skill . . . an impeccable piece of writing * i * No other writer has charted - pitilessly for politicians but thrillingly for readers - the public and secret histories of his times * Guardian * The master is back on form in this tale of Russian subterfuge and a middle-aged spy 's suspicious badminton partner * The Times * A rich, beautifully written book studded with surprises. Narrative is a black art, and Le Carre is its grandmaster * Andrew Taylor, Spectator *More details
Edition
Unabridged edition
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Penguin Books Ltd
Edition type
Unabridged edition
Product notice
Audio CD
Dimensions
Height: 142 mm
Width: 139 mm
Thickness: 23 mm
Duration
Dauer: 574 min
Weight
241 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-241-40293-1 (9780241402931)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
08/2020
Penguin Books Ltd
€11.50
Available immediately
E-Book
10/2019
1st Edition
Penguin Books Ltd
€8.99
Available for download
Persons
John le Carre (Author, Reader)
John le Carre was born in 1931. For six decades, he wrote novels that came to define our age. The son of a confidence trickster, he spent his childhood between boarding school and the London underworld. At sixteen he found refuge at the University of Bern, then later at Oxford. A spell of teaching at Eton led him to a short career in British Intelligence (MI5 & 6). He published his debut novel, Call for the Dead, in 1961 while still a secret servant. His third novel, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, secured him a worldwide reputation, which was consolidated by the acclaim for his trilogy, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Honourable Schoolboy and Smiley's People. At the end of the Cold War, le Carre widened his scope to explore an international landscape including the arms trade and the War on Terror. His memoir, The Pigeon Tunnel, was published in 2016 and the last George Smiley novel, A Legacy of Spies, appeared in 2017. He died on 12 December 2020. His posthumous novel, Silverview, was published in 2021.
John le Carre was born in 1931. For six decades, he wrote novels that came to define our age. The son of a confidence trickster, he spent his childhood between boarding school and the London underworld. At sixteen he found refuge at the University of Bern, then later at Oxford. A spell of teaching at Eton led him to a short career in British Intelligence (MI5 & 6). He published his debut novel, Call for the Dead, in 1961 while still a secret servant. His third novel, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, secured him a worldwide reputation, which was consolidated by the acclaim for his trilogy, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Honourable Schoolboy and Smiley's People. At the end of the Cold War, le Carre widened his scope to explore an international landscape including the arms trade and the War on Terror. His memoir, The Pigeon Tunnel, was published in 2016 and the last George Smiley novel, A Legacy of Spies, appeared in 2017. He died on 12 December 2020. His posthumous novel, Silverview, was published in 2021.