Le Carre was believed to be unsure about using a female in the spymaster role.

Were you familiar with John le Carre's novel before the drama?

Olivia Colman, Tom Hiddleston and Hugh Laurie will star in the co-production of the GBP20m spy thriller, which is said to be 'the most radical ever' Le Carre adaptation.

Editorial Director, Penguin Random House Audio UK, Samantha Halstead, remarked: "We're incredibly excited that John le Carre has narrated his audio edition.

Born David John Moore Cornwell, and under the pen name, Le Carre wrote The Constant Gardener in 2001.

The big question of course is will Le Carre make a cameo appearance as he did in The Night Manager.

Birthdays: from left, Sinitta, Sam Allardyce and John Le Carre

Chapter one develops le Carre's view that the global spread of materialism and democracy replaced the previous international threat of Communism.

My Name is Nobody actually falls somewhere between Robert Ludlum and Le Carre.

Adapted from John Le Carre's 2010 novel, Our Kind of Traitor is a serpentine thriller, which never turns up the heat sufficiently on McGregor and Harris' do-gooders, but still simmers pleasantly.

The Cold War may have ended many years ago in real life, but not for John le Carre, who has now written a fascinating book derived from two of his earlier George Smiley novels, "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold" and "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy." Smiley merely plays a background role in "Legacy." Instead, Peter Guillam, his disciple, who retired from the Circus (the British Secret Service) to the family farmstead in southern France, plays a central part in the story.

A LEGACY OF SPIES, JOHN LE CARRE, 9780241308547 (VIKING) BD9.700 for Gulf Weekly Book Club members

A new Le Carre always causes a buzz, and this elegant story deserves quite a fanfare.