Company History
On completion of his first James Bond novel, Casino Royale, in 1952, Ian Fleming took the advice of his accountant and purchased a small production company, Glidrose Productions Limited (so named for its founders, John Gliddon and Norman Rose). He assigned most of his rights in Casino Royale and the works which followed it to Glidrose, and fifty six years and two changes of name later, the family-owned Ian Fleming Publications Ltd still administers Ian Fleming's literary estate.
When Ian Fleming died in 1964, it was felt that James Bond was too popular a figure to be allowed to follow him.
So wrote Kingsley Amis in the foreword of the 1991 reissue of Colonel Sun. Colonel Sun was originally published in 1968 and is the first novel commissioned by Glidrose featuring the character of James Bond to appear after Fleming’s death. It was published under the name of Robert Markham. This pseudonym was later revealed as the disguise of Kingsley Amis, the distinguished novelist and author of The James Bond Dossier, which was published in 1965. The mantle of Bond was taken up by John Gardner and Licence Renewed was published in 1981. Gardner went on to write thirteen further novels in the series. Having achieved his goal of writing as many Bond books as Ian Fleming, John Gardner retired, and Raymond Benson picked up the Bond pen. Zero Minus Ten, was published in 1997. A further five original Bond novels followed.
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In 2003 Ian Fleming Publications took the literary legacy of Ian Fleming in an entirely new direction, with the commissioning of Charlie Higson to write the bestselling Young Bond novels. The novels are set in the 1930s and show how James's early adventures shape the man he is to become. The first book, SilverFin, was published in March 2005 to great critical acclaim. The paperback of the fifth book in the series, By Royal Command, was published in May 2009 and was followed in November by Danger Society: The Young Bond Dossier, a companion book to the series which includes an exclusive short story, A Hard Man to Kill.
A unique female perspective was added to the Bond story with the commissioning of The Moneypenny Diaries by Dr Kate Westbrook, the pseudonym of Samantha Weinberg. Guardian Angel, published in 2005, is the first of the three diaries in the series. The third volume in the trilogy, Final Fling, was published in May 2008.
To mark Ian Fleming’s centenary, Ian Fleming Publications Ltd invited the critically acclaimed novelist Sebastian Faulks to write a new James Bond novel. Continuing where Fleming’s last novel, The Man with the Golden Gun¸left off. Devil May Care was a wonderful tribute to Ian Fleming and his most famous creation: the paperback was released in the UK one year on from Ian Fleming’s centenary birthday on 28 May 2009.
In 2010 Ian Fleming Publications Ltd announced a new James Bond book, currently known as Project X, to be written by international bestselling thriller writer Jeffery Deaver. The novel is due for publication on the 28th May 2011, the 103rd anniversary of Ian Fleming's birthday.
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