Ian Fleming’s Legacy

Before his death, Fleming had already delivered a manuscript for his final James Bond novel, The Man with the Golden Gun, which was redrafted and edited by author Kingsley Amis and published posthumously in 1965.  Fleming’s only story for children, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was published in three instalments in 1965 and 1966 and a collection of short stories featuring 007, Octopussy and The Living Daylights was released in 1966.

Fleming could never have guessed the impact his creation would have on British culture, cinema or the world’s perception of British espionage.  The enduring adoration for James Bond is something which could never have been conceived as Fleming sat down in Jamaica that January in 1952, and succeeded in his quest to write the spy story to end all spy stories.

At his memorial service his old friend and editor at Cape, William Plomer delivered the following heartfelt address to the congregation,

‘Let us remember him as he was on top of the world, with his foot on the accelerator, laughing at absurdities, enjoying discoveries, absorbed in his many interests and plans, fascinated and amused by places and people and facts and fantasies, an entertainer of millions, and for us a friend never to be forgotten.’