Called by Time magazine, ''the premier spy novelist of his time and perhaps of all time,'' John le Carre has raised the spy novel to a new height. Call for the Dead is his first novel and the one in which we meet the world's most famous undercover operative, George Smiley.

The cast of characters includes a bright, twisted former hero of the German underground, a once beautiful woman with a terrifying secret, a high-ranking pompous fool of a bureaucrat, and a suspect British civil servant. The protagonist, George Smiley, is bitter, weary--he has seen too much and done too much--yet he cannot refuse one last desperate call for his services. [ Call for the Dead was made into a 1966 film named The Deadly Affair .]

约翰•勒卡雷（John le Carré ,1931—）

原名大卫•康威尔（David Cornwell），1931年生于英国。曾就读于伯尔尼大学和牛津大学，在伊顿公学教授过两年法文与德文。18岁被英国军方情报单位招募，担任对东柏林的间谍工作；1958年就职于英国安全局军情五处，同时开始写作。1963年，第三本著作《柏林谍影》问世，知名小说家格雷厄姆•格林如此盛赞：“这是我读过的最好的间谍小说！”由此奠定文坛大师地位，并转为全职写作。在过去的50年中，勒卡雷居留于伦敦与康沃尔郡，笔耕不辍，迄今共著书23部。

勒卡雷是毛姆奖、爱伦坡奖、爱伦坡终身大师奖、金匕首奖、钻石匕首奖、金匕首奖中之奖等各大文学奖项的得主，并被《泰晤士报》评选为“1945年以来50位最伟大的英国作家”之一，作品入选 《时代》杂志1923年以来百部最佳英语长篇小说、英国推理作家协会（CWA）百佳推理小说、美国推理作家协会（MWA）百佳推理小说与十佳间谍小说。