The Great Game? The Spy Fiction of Len Deighton

Abstract

Two topics have exercised a powerful grip on Len Deighton’s literary imagination: World War II and espionage. The former has given rise to three novels (Bomber, SSGB and Goodbye Mickey Mouse) and three works of non-fiction (Fighter, Blitzkrieg and Battle of Britain);the latter has resulted in fourteen spy novels including the recent Game Set and Match trilogy. In assessing Deighton’s prolific output it may be appropriate to employ the distinction made by Graham Greene between novels and ‘entertainments’. Many regard Bomber, a graphic account of a single bombing raid over Germany, as his finest achievement and SSGB, an imaginative projection of what might have happened if Britain had collapsed in 1940 and been occupied by the Nazis, has also enjoyed critical acclaim.1 Deighton will probably be remembered best, though, as a writer of spy fiction — a series of extraordinarily successful novels established him as one of the most important and influential contributors to this popular literary genre. These ‘entertainments’ with their ingenious plots and laconic humour, are lighter in tone than the ‘war’ novels even though there is clearly an attempt to extend and deepen the range of his spy fiction in the Game Set and Match trilogy.