Editing Len Deighton (section)

==Works==
{{main|Len Deighton bibliography}}
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According to the [[Gale (publisher)|Gale]] ''Contemporary Novelists'' [[monograph]]s, Deighton and fellow author [[John le Carré]] follow in the same literary tradition of British espionage writers as [[W. Somerset Maugham]], [[Eric Ambler]] and [[Graham Greene]]. Deighton provides an "energetic style" and his fictional work is marked by a complex narrative structure, according to Gale.{{sfn|"Len Deighton". ''Contemporary Novelists''}} Deighton extensively researched the background and technical aspects of his storylines, and enjoyed this side of producing work; in 1976 he said "I like the research better than I like writing books".{{sfn|Macdonald|1992|p=37}}{{sfn|''Desert Island Discs'', 19 June 1976|loc=Event occurs at 11:40–11:45}} The literary analyst Gina Macdonald observes that the technical aspect of Deighton's work can overshadow the plots and characterisation in the novel when Deighton provides too much detail in a short passage, leading to what she calls "banal conversations, stilted and unconvincing".{{sfn|Macdonald|1992|p=37}} Deighton was elected to the [[Detection Club]] in 1969 and their work ''Howdunit'', published in 2020, was dedicated to him.{{sfn|Edwards|2020|p=viii}}

===Novels===
According to the film and media historian Alan Burton, ''The IPCRESS File''—along with le Carré's 1963 novel ''[[The Spy Who Came in from the Cold]]''—"changed the nature of British spy fiction" as it brought in "a more insolent, disillusioned and cynical style to the espionage story".{{sfn|Burton|2016|p=119}} The novel used appendices and footnotes which, according to Burton, gave verisimilitude to the work.{{sfn|Burton|2013|p=37}}{{efn|The appendices for ''The IPCRESS File'' include the costs of Indian marijuana in 1962, the use of [[HM Prison Wormwood Scrubs]] as the headquarters of British Intelligence during the Second World War and cocktail recipes of drinks in the book. Some references include details of how the characters were involved in activities associated with the topics described.{{sfn|Deighton|1964|pp=214–223}}}} The academic George Grella considers Deighton's novels to be "stylish, witty [and] well-crafted",{{sfn|Grella|1988|p=449}} and that they provide "a convincingly detailed picture of the world of espionage while carefully examining the ethics and morality of that world".{{sfn|Grella|1988|p=450}} Deighton has expressed his admiration for the [[police procedural]], which he considers has an authentic feel, and approaches his fiction writing as a "spy procedural".{{sfn|Burton|2016|p=219}} Burton considers ''The IPCRESS File'' to be "a marker of a new trend in mature, realistic espionage fiction".{{sfn|Burton|2013|p=37}}

''The IPCRESS File'' appeared in bookshops at the same time as the [[James Bond]] film ''[[Dr. No (film)|Dr. No]]''. Deighton acknowledged that his career had benefited from the enormous popularity of Bond, although he denied any similarity between his and [[Ian Fleming]]'s books except being about spies.{{sfn|Deighton|1966|p=182}} The academic Clive Bloom considers that after ''Funeral in Berlin'' was published in 1964, Deighton "established a place for himself&nbsp;... in the front rank of the spy genre, along with Graham Greene, Ian Fleming and John le Carré".{{sfn|Bloom|1995|p=46}} Deighton's later works were less oblique than the earlier ones, and had, according to Bloom, "more subtlety and deeper characterization".{{sfn|Bloom|1995|p=46}} Oliver Buckton, the professor of literature, also considers Deighton to be in the forefront of post-war spy writers.{{sfn|Buckton|2012|p=57}} The crime writer and poet [[Julian Symons]] writes that "[t]he constant crackle of his dialogue makes Deighton a kind of poet of the spy story".{{sfn|Symons|1985|p=229}}

Grella considers Deighton to be "the [[Angry young men|angry young man]] of the espionage novel",{{sfn|Grella|1988|p=450}} with the central characters of his main novels—the unnamed protagonist from the ''IPCRESS'' series and Bernard Samson from the nine novels in which he appears—both working-class, cynical and streetwise, in contrast to the upper-class and ineffective senior members of the intelligence service in their respective novels.{{sfn|Burton|2016|p=119}} His working-class heroes also stand in contrast to Fleming's [[Eton College|Eton]]- and [[Fettes College|Fettes]]-educated smooth, upper-class character James Bond.{{sfn|Macdonald|1992|p=38}}

===Adaptations===
Several of Deighton's novels have been adapted as films, which include ''[[The Ipcress File (film)|The Ipcress File]]'' (1965), ''[[Funeral in Berlin (film)|Funeral in Berlin]]'' (1966), ''[[Billion Dollar Brain]]'' (1967) and ''[[Spy Story (film)|Spy Story]]'' (1976). All feature the books' unnamed character, but he was given the full name "[[Harry Palmer]]" for the films; either the actor [[Michael Caine]]—who played Palmer in the films—or the producer for two of the three films, [[Harry Saltzman]], came up with the name.{{sfn|Burton|2018|p=99}}{{sfn|Caine|2012|pp=205–206}} Two television films also featured Palmer: ''[[Bullet to Beijing]]'' (1995) and ''[[Midnight in Saint Petersburg]]'' (1996); they were not based on Deighton's stories. All the films except ''Spy Story'' feature Caine as Palmer.{{sfn|Barrett|Herrera|Baumann|2011|p=27}} Deighton's hands were used in ''The Ipcress File'' in place of Caine's for a scene in which Palmer breaks eggs into a bowl and whisks them.{{sfn|Baker|2012|p=41}} In March 2022 ''[[The Ipcress File (TV series)|The Ipcress File]]'', a television adaptation of Deighton's novel, was broadcast on UK television. [[Joe Cole (actor)|Joe Cole]] was Palmer; [[Lucy Boynton]] and [[Tom Hollander]] also appeared in major roles.{{sfn|Hilton|2022|p=38}}{{sfn|Twigg|2022|p=24}}

''[[Berlin Game]]'', ''[[Mexico Set]]'' and ''[[London Match]]'', the first trilogy of his [[Bernard Samson]] novel series, were made into ''[[Game, Set and Match]]'', a thirteen-part television series by [[Granada Television]] in 1988.{{sfn|Woods|2008|p=118}}{{sfn|"Game, Set and Match (1988)". British Film Institute}} Although [[Quentin Tarantino]] expressed interest in adapting the trilogy,{{sfn|Child|2009}} the project did not materialise.{{sfn|Sharf|2019}} The nine Samson novels were in [[pre-production]] with [[Clerkenwell Films]] in 2013, with a script by [[Simon Beaufoy]].{{sfn|Kemp|2013}}

In 2017 the BBC adapted Deighton's novel ''SS-GB'' for [[SS-GB (TV series)|a five-part miniseries]], broadcast in one-hour episodes; [[Sam Riley]] played the lead role of Detective Superintendent Douglas Archer.{{sfn|Whitworth|2017}} In 1995 [[BBC Radio 4]] broadcast a [[Real time (media)|real-time]] dramatisation of ''Bomber''. The drama was in four broadcasts, each of two hours, from 2:30&nbsp;pm to midnight, threaded through the station's schedule of news and current affairs.{{sfn|"BBC Radio 4, 18 February 1995". ''Radio Times''}}{{sfn|Barnard|1995|p=24}}

===Legacy and influence===
Deighton's work has been acknowledged by the thriller writer [[Jeremy Duns]] as being an influence on his own work.{{sfn|Duns|2009}} In ''[[Letters from Burma]]'', the politician [[Aung San Suu Kyi]] mentions reading Deighton's books, while under [[Aung San Suu Kyi#House arrest|house arrest]]. Suu Kyi wrote that she was passionate about [[Arthur Conan Doyle]]'s tales of [[Sherlock Holmes]] and the spy novels of le Carré and Deighton.{{sfn|"Back to prayer for Suu Kyi". ''Capital News''}} When asked by [[Christie's]] about his love for [[Indian art]] and how he started his collection, the writer [[V. S. Naipaul]] credited Deighton. "I met Len Deighton, the thriller writer, at dinner many years ago. He demonstrated to me that Indian art could really be approachable. I bought from&nbsp;... [[Maggs Bros Ltd|Maggs]] because of Len Deighton pushing me onto [them] as being a very fair dealer, saying that they do not charge you much more than they should. That's a marvellous thing to be told".{{sfn|"Collectors & their collections: V.S. Naipaul". ''Christie's''}}

Deighton's 1970 novel ''Bomber'' was listed in [[Anthony Burgess]]'s 1984 work ''[[Ninety-Nine Novels]]'' as one of the 99 best novels in English since 1939.{{sfn|Burgess|1984|p=1}} ''[[Bomber (album)|Bomber]]'', the third album of the rock group [[Motörhead]], was named after the novel, as the band's singer, [[Lemmy]], was reading it at the time they were recording the album.{{sfn|Grow|2015}}