The IPCRESS File cover art

The IPCRESS File

Penguin Modern Classics

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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

Now a new six part ITV drama starring Joe Cole, as iconic spy Harry Palmer, Lucy Boynton and Tom Hollander.

A high-ranking scientist has been kidnapped. A secret British intelligence agency must find out why. But as the quarry is pursued from grimy Soho to the other side of the world, what seemed a straightforward mission turns into something far more sinister. With its sardonic, cool, working-class hero, Len Deighton's sensational debut The IPCRESS File rewrote the spy thriller and became the defining novel of 1960's London.

'A stone-cold Cold War classic' Toby Litt, Guardian

'Changed the shape of the espionage thriller ... there is an infectious energy about this book which makes it a joy to read' Daily Telegraph

© Len Deighton 1962 (P) Penguin Audio 2021

 Espionage Genre Fiction Historical Military Spies & Politics Thriller & Suspense War & Military Fiction Witty

Critic reviews

They don't, as they say, write them like this anymore. You will be entertained, informed, thrilled and dazzled. Long may he, and his creations, live on. (Jeremy Duns)
Len Deighton's spy novels are so good they make me sad the Cold War is over. (Malcolm Gladwell)
Deighton's fiction has stood the test of time. His habitually acerbic narrative voice still has much to say to contemporary readers ... Now a fresh generation have the chance to sample Deighton's wares as Penguin republishes many of his books. (Vanessa Thorpe)
The Ipcress File helped change the shape of the espionage thriller ... the prose is still as crisp and fresh as ever ... there is an infectious energy about this book which makes it a joy to read, or re-read.
The self-conscious cool of Deighton's writing has dated in the best way possible ... stone-cold Cold War classic. (Toby Litt)
To read it today is like taking a ride in a time machine, so accurate and astute are its evocations of its era ... Deighton knows how to pinch the ephemera that stick in our souls ... Never not a joy to read. It is also a book that changed the way we see the world. (Peter Millar)
The IPCRESS File has lost none of its nerve-tingling fascination ... [and] the pleasure of engaging with a master of his craft. (Barry Turner)
A wonderful mixture of the exciting and the amusingly humdrum ... James Bond may be thinner, but so is his dialogue. (Jake Kerridge)
Deighton is a fearless observer of the deceptive human world. (John Gray)
A dazzling performance. The verve and energy, the rattle of wit in the dialogue, the side-of-the-mouth comments, the evident pleasure taken in cocking a snook at the British spy story's upper-middle-class tradition - all these made it clear that a writer of remarkable talent in this field had appeared. (Julian Symons)
All stars
Most relevant
Just magnificent in every way. This has to be an essential read (or listen, if consumed as an audiobook.

Magnificent

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I first read this story as a teenager, and enjoyed reading all this series over the years. It's interesting now to realise how different Britain was in 1962 from the one around us today.
Good narration by James Lailey, who isn't quite imitating Michael Caine! Given the character's own reference to going to school in Blackburn, it might have been interesting to hear it narrated with a suitable accent.

Good version of a classic story

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Very, very good and extremely well narrated. different from the story told in the film version and TV version so well worth a read. charecterisation and plot are wonderful and the sense of time and place beautifully created.

Very, very good and extremely well narrated.

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Seen and love the film, seen the ITV TV series and liked it and now I have the audiobook. I can imagine the Micheal Caine portrayal in my had when James Lailey narrators. Nothing like the usual spy thrillers, with less action with the lack of action but is still damm good.

My Name Is Palmer, Harry Palmer

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the performance is very good, the storyline is convoluted in the middle and doesn't add anything but that said enjoyed it

very different to the film

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