Ian Fleming Publications is the production company formerly known as both Glidrose Productions Limited and Glidrose Publications Limited,[1] named after its founders John Gliddon and Norman Rose. In 1952, author Ian Fleming bought it after completing his first James Bond novel, Casino Royale; he assigned most of his rights in Casino Royale, and the works which followed it to Glidrose.
In 1956, Ian Fleming hired literary agent Peter Janson-Smith to handle the foreign translation rights in the James Bond novels.[2] He was the literary consultant and chairman of Ian Fleming Publications until 2001. Today, the Fleming family-owned Ian Fleming Publications administers all Fleming's literary works.
After Fleming's death in 1964, the estate either commissioned or permitted new Bond works to be published. In 1968, Kingsley Amis published Colonel Sun, under the pseudonym "Robert Markham". The company changed its name from Glidrose Productions to Glidrose Publications. In 1973, Glidrose sanctioned by John Pearson. In 1977 and again in 1979, Eon Productions authorized Christopher Wood to write novelisations of his scripts for the Bond films The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker.
In 1981 the James Bond book series was revived, with new novels written by John Gardner. After writing 14 Bond books, John Gardner retired in 1996, and Raymond Benson, controversially at first, the first American to write a James Bond novel, replaced him. It was during Benson's six-book run that the company owning the rights to the Bond characters changed names from Glidrose Publications to Ian Fleming Publications; the publisher's new name appeared first in the 1999 book High Time to Kill. Benson stopped writing Bond books in 2002. On what would have been Fleming's 100th birthday—28 May 2008—the novel Devil May Care, appeared. Its author, Sebastian Faulks, was true to Bond's original character and background and provided 'a Flemingesque hero'[3] who drove a battleship grey 1967 T-series Bentley.[4] Next, Ian Fleming Publications commissioned Jeffery Deaver to write Carte Blanche, which was published in May 2011.[5] In April 2012, the company announced that William Boyd would write the next Bond novel and Jonathan Cape in the UK and HarperCollins in Canada and the US published Solo in 2013.[6] Anthony Horowitz's Trigger Mortis appeared in September 2015.
Between 2005 and 2008, Ian Fleming Publications has supported the publication of Charlie Higson's five Young Bond novels telling the adventures of a teenage James Bond in the 1930s. In 2005 the company launched another series of Bond-related spin-off books, The Moneypenny Diaries by Samantha Weinberg, writing as 'Kate Westbrook'. Young Bond returned in 2013 with Shoot to Kill by Steve Cole.
In a controversial move in 2023, the James Bond novels were rewritten to remove references deemed offensive following a sensitivity review commissioned by the company. Some depictions of Black people were removed, while a reference to the "sweet tang of rape," a description of homosexuality as a "disability," and mockery of East Asian people were allowed to remain.[7]
| Short story | Published date | Publication | |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Quantum of Solace" | May 1959 | Cosmopolitan | |
| "The Hildebrand Rarity" | March 1960 | Playboy | |
| "For Your Eyes Only" | 1960 | ||
| "From a View to a Kill" | 1960 | ||
| "Risico" | 1960 | ||
| "The Living Daylights" | 9 February 1962 | The Sunday Times | |
| "The Property of a Lady" | 1963 | The Ivory Hammer | |
| "007 in New York" | 1963 | Thrilling Cities | |
| "Octopussy" | March/April 1966 | Playboy |
Written by Kingsley Amis under the pseudonym Robert Markham.
| Short story | Published date | Publication | |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Blast from the Past" | January 1997 | Playboy | |
| "Midsummer Night's Doom" | January 1999 | Playboy | |
| "Live at Five" | November 1999 | TV Guide |
The novel by Sebastian Faulks is a one-off adult Bond novel that follows The Man with the Golden Gun in the 1960s. The book was written to celebrate Ian Fleming's centenary and was released on Fleming's birthday, 28 May 2008.
The novel by Jeffery Deaver, Carte Blanche, previously known as "Project X", is set in the present era and was published on 28 May 2011.
On 11 April 2012 it was announced that William Boyd would write the next James Bond novel, entitled Solo, set at the end of the 1960s. The novel was released in the United Kingdom on 26 September 2013, and in the United States and Canada on 8 October 2013.
Written by the pseudonymous R. D. Mascott, it was the first James Bond related book not written by Ian Fleming to be published after Fleming's death. To this day, Ian Fleming Publications has never disclosed or confirmed the author's identity.
Written by Fleming's friend and colleague, John Pearson, the book differs from all other Bond novels in that it is a biography told in the first-person by Pearson upon meeting James Bond.
Charlie Higson's novels, part of a series called Young Bond, are prequels to Fleming's series.
| James Bond uncollected short stories by Charlie Higson | |||
| Short story | Published date | Publication | |
|---|---|---|---|
| "A Hard Man to Kill" | October 2009 | ||
In October 2013 Ian Fleming Publications announced that Steve Cole would continue the series, with his first book scheduled to be released in November 2014.[8]
The Moneypenny Diaries is a trilogy chronicling the life of Miss Moneypenny. The books are written by Samantha Weinberg under the pseudonym Kate Westbrook.
| The Moneypenny Diaries short stories by Samantha Weinberg | |||
| Short story | Published date | Publication | |
|---|---|---|---|
| "For Your Eyes Only, James" | November 2006 | Tatler | |
| "Moneypenny’s First Date With Bond" | November 2006 | The Spectator | |
Three novels were given approval by the Ian Fleming Estate
The following are stories known to have been written for Glidrose / Ian Fleming Publications, however, were not published.