(born Oct. 19, 1931, Poole, Dorset, Eng.) British novelist. As a member of the foreign service in West Germany from 1959, he acquired firsthand knowledge of international espionage.
He began to write full-time after the success of his third novel, the realistic, suspenseful The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1963). The trilogy Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (1974), The Honourable Schoolboy (1977), and Smiley's People (1980) centres on the intelligence agent George Smiley. Unlike other fictional spies, Smiley is decidedly unglamorous, lonely, and alienated. Le Carré's other novels include The Little Drummer Girl (1983), The Russia House (1989), and The Night Manager (1993). Many of his books were adapted for film or television.
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