Len Deighton, spy novelist and author of The Ipcress File, dies aged 97

British writer brought wit, realism and class consciousness to cold war espionage fiction, reshaping the genre in the 1960s

Len Deighton obituary

Len Deighton, the British author whose subversive spy novels helped redefine the genre in the 1960s, has died aged 97.

Best known for his debut, The Ipcress File, Deighton went on to write more than 30 books over a career spanning four decades, establishing himself as one of the most distinctive voices in postwar fiction. His work, often compared to that of John le Carré, combined meticulous research with wit and sharp observations about class and bureaucracy.