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He is a writer known for his emotional insights into human character and it is not uncommon for him to spend up to five years painstakingly researching his books. So when Sebastian Faulks was asked to write a one-off James Bond story in celebration of the centenary of the birth of the spy writer Ian Fleming, he felt he had to reveal his limited knowledge of the genre. "I told them that I hadn’t read the books since the age of 13, but if when I re-read them I still enjoyed them and could see how I might be able to do something in the same vein, then I would be happy to consider it," he said. But on revisiting his teenage author of choice, Faulks felt pleasantly inspired, not least because he felt he could rattle off the book in no time. "After almost five years researching Victorian psychiatry for Human Traces, there was something attractive about a jeu d’esprit which, if I followed Fleming’s own prescription, I could write in about six weeks. "On re-reading, I was surprised by how well the books stood up. I found writing this light-hearted book more thrilling than I had expected. I hope people will enjoy reading it and that Ian Fleming would consider it to be in the cavalier spirit of his own novels and therefore an acceptable addition to the line," he said. The book, Devil May Care, will be published by Penguin next year on May 28, 2008. Faulks, 54, who is best known for his celebrated French war trilogy, The Girl at the Lion d’Or, Birdsong and Charlotte Gray, has set the novel in the Cold War period with much of the action played out across two continents and exotic locations. He said he had attempted to create a convincing "Bond" formula by picking the most enjoyable aspect of Fleming’s work and adding new characters with "as much speed and as many twists as I thought the reader could bear." As far as Fleming’s estate was concerned, the finished prose from Faulks had an uncanny likeness to Fleming’s own work. Corinne Turner, managing director of Ian Fleming Publications, said he was an author who had an ability to write "totally convincingly in whichever period or genre he chose... the Fleming family were delighted with the typescript when we received it." Alex Clarke, the editor at Penguin, said: "Not only has Sebastian picked up from where Fleming left off, but he has also brought his own exquisite prose to the cocktail party." —By arrangement with The Independent
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