Ian Fleming

Ben Macintyre wrote an article originally published in The Times (now inaccessible due to a paywall) and republished by the Ottawa Citizen in which he argues that Ian Fleming’s father, Valentine Fleming,who died in the First World War, provided the prototype for James Bond. According to the article Fleming once said: “I couldn’t possibly be [...]

On Monday 5th August 1963, Ian Fleming was the guest on Roy Plomley’s Desert Island Disks, a long-running show on BBC radio that was first broadcast on 29 January 1942 and still runs today. The premise of the programme is simple; each week a famous guest (“castaway”) chooses eight pieces of music, as well as [...]

Following the poor reception of The Spy Who Loved Me, Fleming decided to visit Jamaica in July 1962, where he worked on the short story Octopussy. The story is set in Kitzbuhel and Jamaica, two places close to Fleming’s heart, and centres around a figure suffering the ill effects of a lifetime of smoking and drinking heavily who seems distinctly autobiographical.

Following his heart attack, Ian Fleming spent a month convalescing in the London Clinic followed by the Dudley Hotel in Hove and while recuperating started to write down a story he’d been telling Caspar about a magic flying car – Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Kevin McClory could see huge cinematic potential in James Bond and was eager for Ivar Bryce to finance a project to finally bring 007 to the big screen. He had just directed his first feature financed by Bryce, “The Boy And The Bridge” which was Britain’s official entry in the 1959 Venice Film Festival.

When Ian Fleming travelled to the United States in May to sign a US publishing deal with Macmillan, it was in the knowledge that the initial print run of Casino Royale had almost sold out and a second printing would go ahead the same month.

Ian Fleming and Ann Rothermere were married in the town hall of Port Maria on the north shore of Jamaica on 24th March 1952, with Noel Coward and Cole Lesley as witnesses, followed by what was reportedly an alcohol soaked wedding breakfast.

Ian Fleming had received a salary as partner in a stock broking firm throughout the war, but decided to accept the role of Foreign Manager for Kemsley Newspapers at the end of 1945 instead.

Although Operation Ruthless never came to fruition, Ian Fleming continued to play a central role in Naval Intelligence throughout the remainder of the war, and his travels took him to various places including New York, Quebec, Tangier and Jamaica while undertaking various projects. One of these was Operation Goldeneye, a plan to ensure that Britain [...]

Ian Fleming’s frequent contact with a variety of spies stimulated his imagination to propose a variety of ideas to the head of Naval Intelligence. Learn more about his life here.