Kingsley Amis in the Bond world

Where to begin

Start with Colonel Sun after Fleming. Published in 1968 as Robert Markham, it is the first official continuation novel. M’s kidnapping creates a personal rescue mission instead of an ordinary briefing. There is only one Amis Bond novel to order; his earlier Bond commentary is a different kind of book.

Reading order

1. Colonel Sun (1968) — Standalone.

Amis before Robert Markham

Amis approached Bond as a reader and critic before writing Colonel Sun. Ian Fleming Publications identifies The James Bond Dossier and The Book of Bond as his 1965 Bond works, and gives Robert Markham as the name used for the 1968 novel. His wider writing included poetry, criticism and the comic novel Lucky Jim. That background makes this an interesting starting point for readers curious about how an established novelist takes over another writer’s character.

Three different kinds of Bond reading

Keep the critical books separate from the adventure. A discussion of Bond’s habits or Fleming’s technique offers a different experience from following a new rescue mission. You can approach Colonel Sun without first studying Amis’s criticism; knowing that the criticism exists simply gives you a possible second route. Readers interested mainly in action should go straight to the novel, while readers interested in authorship can move between the fiction and the commentary.

Our suggestion is to finish Fleming’s main sequence before trying this first continuation. That gives you a stable point of comparison: the relationship with M, the scale of the assignment and the importance of the people helping Bond. Compare those elements rather than expecting every later writer to reproduce Fleming’s voice. The question is how the familiar character works in another novelist’s hands.

What to read afterwards

For another return to the earlier Bond world, try Sebastian Faulks’s Devil May Care. For a deliberately placed mission following a particular Fleming novel, look at Anthony Horowitz’s Trigger Mortis after Goldfinger. John Gardner provides a different next step, moving the series forward into the 1980s. These are alternatives to suit your interests, rather than a compulsory sequence leading out of Colonel Sun.

If Lucky Jim is what brought you here, remember that choosing an author does not necessarily mean choosing the same genre. It is reasonable to read the single Bond contribution and return to Amis’s other work. The individual book guide below keeps the story, content notes and available recordings together, so this page can concentrate on the wider choice of what to read next.

An author with more than one literary identity

Amis's Bond work sits within a career that cannot be reduced to one pseudonym or one kind of novel. Alongside the comedy associated with Lucky Jim, his later fiction includes The Old Devils, which won the 1986 Booker Prize. The Booker organisation describes a story in which an older circle's established routines are disrupted by returning friends. That provides a different point of entry for readers who want to explore the author beyond espionage.

For this page, the useful distinction is between authorship and the name printed on an edition. Colonel Sun appeared as a Robert Markham book, but the novelist behind it was Kingsley Amis. When choosing a copy or looking up criticism, either name may be relevant. Do not mistake the pseudonym for another continuation writer whose books have to be added to the reading order.

Reading a continuation after Fleming

Our suggested way into Colonel Sun is to notice what happens when M becomes the person who needs rescuing. Normally, the intelligence chief helps define Bond's assignment. The kidnapping changes that familiar relationship and gives the mission a direct connection to someone already important to Bond. The individual book guide develops the premise without requiring you to study Amis's earlier criticism first.

You can read with two kinds of continuity in mind. One is the return of a character and his professional world; the other is the experience of a new writer shaping the prose. Do not assume that recognising the first means you will respond identically to the second. A continuation can retain a familiar relationship while giving it different emphasis, and that difference is part of the reason to read it.

For comparison, choose one Fleming book you know well and ask how it handles loyalty, obligation and the practical business of a mission. Keep the exercise modest. You do not need to prove that every sentence sounds like Fleming or treat any departure as an error. Our recommendation is to finish the adventure before deciding how successfully Amis makes Bond his own for this book.

Choosing between the novel and the Bond commentary

The James Bond Dossier, The Book of Bond and Colonel Sun serve different reading purposes. The first two belong to Amis's earlier engagement with Fleming's creation; the third gives you a new adventure. If your question is simply what happens to Bond next in this author's hands, start with the novel. If you are interested in how a writer reads another writer, the commentary becomes a useful companion.

Our practical suggestion is to keep a separate list for criticism and fiction. This prevents a bibliography from turning into a misleading story sequence. A work discussing Bond's habits or the construction of Fleming's books does not occupy the same place as a mission. You can read it before or after the novel according to your interests, rather than because a publication date appears between two adventures.

Two routes after Colonel Sun

For more Bond, the Sebastian Faulks hub offers another single contribution by a novelist with a substantial career elsewhere. Our recommendation is to compare the reading experience rather than rank the writers by how many Bond books they produced. A one-off commission and a long continuation run make different demands on the reader's time.

If you want a longer run, explore John Gardner. The main continuation guide keeps the author groups together, while the Fleming reading order lets you return to any originals you skipped. Neither route requires you to erase your preferences in favour of a complete checklist.

For more Amis, choose between Lucky Jim and The Old Devils by reading their descriptions and a sample. Do not expect either to be another Bond adventure. Following an author across genres can be rewarding precisely because the subject and rhythm change. It is equally reasonable to enjoy Colonel Sun as an isolated encounter and move back to espionage with another writer.