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The Ipcress File (Secret File #1)

by Len Deighton

3.86 of 5 stars 3.86 · rating details · 4,409 ratings · 75 reviews

"A dazzling performance . . . A remarkable talent." The New York Times Book Review

What must a lone spy do to survive? The classic spy story that reinvigorated a whole genre!

Paperback, 272 pages

Published October 1st 2009 by HarperCollins Publishers (first published 1962)

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Feb 09, 2013 Smcleish rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: owned

Originally published on my blog here in December 2003.

In today's thrillers, we have come to expect that the heroes are likely to be flawed, disillusioned characters. Go back a few decades, and all that was different. I'm talking straight thrillers, here, not detective stories; a significant source for the change to the the thriller genre was the hardboiled detective school of fiction. Graham Greene was probably the writer who introduced this style to the spy story, but Len Deighton was not far b...more Originally published on my blog here in December 2003.

In today's thrillers, we have come to expect that the heroes are likely to be flawed, disillusioned characters. Go back a few decades, and all that was different. I'm talking straight thrillers, here, not detective stories; a significant source for the change to the the thriller genre was the hardboiled detective school of fiction. Graham Greene was probably the writer who introduced this style to the spy story, but Len Deighton was not far behind. followed in his turn by John le Carré.

Spies also tended to be upper class (think James Bond), and it was really Deighton who popularised the alternative. Harry Palmer (the narrator, not actually named in this novel) is a bright man with a good war record, who has had a successful postwar career in intelligence (at the beginning of the novel, he is about to become second in command of a powerful department). Yet he has an obvious chip on his shoulder; he says things like "Ross was a regular officer [i.e. a gentleman]; that is to say he didn't ... hit ladies without first removing his hat." The whole of the novel - and its sequels - makes the narrator's constant sneering at the upper classes a major feature, something which must have seemed quite revolutionary in the Britain of 1962. (It was, after all, the year in which the prosecuting lawyer in the Chatterley trial could say, "Is this a book you would want your servants to read?")

The plot seems at the start to be standard sixties spy thriller fare, as Palmer starts investigating some mysterious defections and strange behaviour among senior British scientists. It turns into an attempt to fram Palmer as a traitor, a charge which in those post-Burgess and MacLean days he can only refute by uncovering the colleague who is really in the pay of the other side. The Ipcress File is one of the earlier spy novels with a betrayal scheme, even if it is an extremely familiar plot to readers of Deighton and Le Carré's later novels.

While many of the positive features of The Ipcress File became staples of the spy thriller genre, making them now seem less innovative, it still has nice touches all of its own. The ironic chapter headings, supposedly Harry Palmer's newspaper horoscope for the day, form one which I particularly liked. The Ipcress File is a paramount classic of the genre, establishing the mould for hundreds of imitators ever since, both as novels and in film. (less)

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Oct 29, 2011 Lisa (Harmonybites) rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: No One

Recommended to Lisa (Harmonybites) by: The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Ultimate Reading List

Shelves: crime, contemporary, fiction, mystery, novels, suspense, ultimate-reading-list

This has been praised as a literary thriller that helped shape the espionage thriller genre, and I've seen Deighton compared to Dickens, contrasted favorably to Ian Fleming.

Frankly, this struck me as rather juvenile. Unlike Fleming, Deighton doesn't have a background in intelligence, and the book never struck me as plausible. It's more Get Smart than Graham Greene or John LeCarre--or even Tom Clancy. This is Len Deighton's first novel--before this he had been working as an illustrator according...more

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Dec 14, 2009 Scott rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 1960s, spies, london

A "haunted house" in north London yields the first clues toward dismantling a spy ring determined to kidnap and brainwash Britain's foremost scientists. Sound like a dozen other cold war thrillers or a case for Steed and Emma? Yup. But The Ipcress File (1962) is in many ways the pattern on which all the others are built. It manages, all at the same time, to be both a paradigm and a parody of all the wonderful spy fiction the cold war spawned. And for atmosphere and wit it's never been beat.

Len D...more A "haunted house" in north London yields the first clues toward dismantling a spy ring determined to kidnap and brainwash Britain's foremost scientists. Sound like a dozen other cold war thrillers or a case for Steed and Emma? Yup. But The Ipcress File (1962) is in many ways the pattern on which all the others are built. It manages, all at the same time, to be both a paradigm and a parody of all the wonderful spy fiction the cold war spawned. And for atmosphere and wit it's never been beat.

Len Deighton creates a rather average, slightly paranoid, but all around likable protagonist (who is never named). Relieved to find he has been transferred to a small yet important section of British Intelligence, he comfortably settles in to a bland routine of juggling expense accounts, chain-smoking Gauloises, and monitoring "Jay," a foreign agent who may be responsible for the disappearances. A chance to observe a nuclear test in the South Pacific sounds like a welcome relief from London's dismal winter, and the company of a new young secretary only makes the offer that much more appealing. But things on the atoll are odd, and it's not long before everything goes wonky.

The story lags when our spy is abroad, and there are a few annoying factual errors that help you remember a little too often that you're reading a book. But as long as our man is in London, the plot is helped along by sharp images and plenty of detail that will leave you shivering and feeling grimy. Deighton fills the story with dark, Chandleresque wit that will keep you chuckling, and references to 60s Brit culture will tempt you more than once to fire up Wikipedia to decode the text. I especially enjoyed the way Deighton, who authored several books on cookery, writes about food, a feature that later spy novelists have inexplicably failed to develop.

So, if your preferred image of British espionage is baccarat, black ties, and something shaken, not stirred, you may want to pass on The Ipcress File. But if, in your mind's eye, you can make a spy out of Graham Kerr and you take you humor a little on the campy side, you should enjoy this page-turner very much.(less)

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Nov 18, 2012 Paul rated it 3 of 5 stars

Fortunately, this book is short, so you might be able to finish it in one evening and have some chance of following the labyrinthine plot. I read it over the course of a week and was confused at least once per page. Deighton assumes a certain familiarity with the reader and sprinkles each paragraph with enough British slang to tickle a "Monty Python" fanatic, so that's entertaining. However, as a storyteller, he relies too heavily on inferences and abrupt time shifts to be of much interest to a...more

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Oct 07, 2011 Ed rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: spy, thriller

I really, really wanted to enjoy this more and maybe the fault was partly my own for thinking it was going to be one of those novels I could read in 20 minute snatches on my daily commute, but despite its relatively short length, I just found it maddeningly difficult to follow. The tone is basically Noir filtered through the spy thriller with a little dash of The Man Who Was Thursday surrealism with the result that it had one of those hyper-dense narratives, full of non sequiturs, one-liners and...more

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Jun 09, 2011 Mieczyslaw Kasprzyk rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, thriller

The first thing I have to say is that I was disappointed - it was nothing like the film. Normally that would be a compliment because, more often than not, films tend to be the medium that let a good book down. There are a few exceptions - "The Road" or "Gone With the Wind" - which were as good as the book because they stayed honest to the written version (whilst making allowances for the fact that they are visual rather than verbal media). It is rare, I think, that one can say that the film is b...more

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Jul 13, 2009 Bettie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: published-1962, spies, adventure, britain-england, mystery-thriller, re-read

a watch:

After reading Michael Caine's biography What's It All About I decided the next time I want to knit a pair of socks, I would kill two birds with one stone i.e. watch Caine and re-visit that wonderful Deighton story. No - I cannot just sit with handies unoccupied.

Trouble is, before I even press the start button I know that the 'me' that is 'now' will not salivate over the Deighton story in quite the same way I did 'back then'. No worries, double-pointed needles are braced, skhettie pollana...more

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Nov 26, 2011 Howard Giordano rated it 3 of 5 stars

Curious about this well known spy novel, I picked it a short time ago and read it in two days. I had never read anything by Len Deighton before and was certain I would enjoy it. I did, but not as much as I anticipated. To begin, the publishing formatting of the 1960's in England made the story a struggle to follow . . . no breaks between scene changes . . . the quotation marks used, etc. Then, Deighton uses so many English expressions that were unfamiliar to me that it slowed my reading pace. Th...more

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Mar 10, 2012 Cameron Wiggins rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It was Okay. "The Ipcress File" by Len Deighton was an English cold war espionage spy thriller with a de-emphasis on the thriller. When several scientists mysteriously disappear in Berlin, what seems to be a straightforward case rapidly turns into a dark and deadly conspiracy.
Len Deighton's working-class unnamed spy is chosen to solve one of these mysterious disappearances: the defection of Raven, a biochemist who has been under long-term survellience by the home office. The agent is empowered t...more

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Nov 03, 2011 Sean E. rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: finished-i-r-p-books

The book “The IPCRESS Files” is expressed through the opinion of a nameless hero who works for the English intelligence agency WOOC(P). It tells of one account of his involving a man named Jay and explaining the hero’s tedious journey to capture him after he kidnaps one of the top nuclear physicists in the world. Throughout the story the hero learns more and more about this peculiar man who seems to have worked for everyone at one time or another. Eventually the investigation is postponed while...more

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Mar 08, 2012 Victor Gibson rated it 4 of 5 stars

The Ipcress file was Len Deighton's first book and considering that he was a graphic designer one wonders how he learnt so much about the spy business, which whether it is true or not sounds totally authentic. Deighton's hero, who is un-named in the Ipcress File, but who becomes Harry Palmer played by Michael Caine in the film, is a sardonic, sarcastic, irreverent spy who it seems is always one jump ahead of the villains, and actually the reader.

Even after fifty years it remains an entertaining...more

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Jul 20, 2011 David Manns rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: thriller

A classic cold war thriller. Deighton captures the sometime mundanity of life as a spy and as a result his creation is much more believable than Fleming's Uber-spy James Bond. Deighton's nameless hero (christened Harry Palmer in the film) is caught in a web of intrigue where you are not sure who is on which side or who's watching who. The plot is sometimes a bit too convoluted for its own good, but Deighton's writing is always crisp and to the point and as a result you are carried along to the l...more

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Feb 01, 2013 Ramón Pérez rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: spionage

IPCRESS File es la novela de espías más anti-Bond que he visto en mucho tiempo. Y me encanta. Por cierto, hay una adaptación a cine por Michael Caine, con el mismo nombre.

El anónimo protagonista (al igual que en Berlin Game, la novela es en primera persona) es un agente de inteligencia transferido al misterioso WOOC, una agencia inventada por Deighton. Su primera misión es averiguar qué ocurre con las desapariciones y posibles deserciones al bloque del Este de científicos británicos. En la peli...more

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Sep 29, 2012 Mac rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I had read that Deighton's work, in particular this first novel, had a lot in common with John le Carre's books, so I thought I'd give him a try. In some ways, this is true: Deighton's unnamed narrator is operating in a world of largely amoral actions and shifting loyalties, without any sort of Tom Clancy-ish sense of duty or righteousness to justify bad acts.

The comparison doesn't necessarily end there, but after reading this, it's clear that the two British spy novelists don't have quite as m...more

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Mar 20, 2013 Stuart Aken rated it 4 of 5 stars

As Deighton admits in the preface to the Silver jubilee Edition that I read, ‘Like many inexperienced writers I expected far too much from my readers.’ And it’s this assumption that that the reader will ‘be aware of every tiny detail and allusion’ that makes this book, at least initially, a less than easy read. Of course, the film and the reputation of the book gives the reader motivation to stick with it. Without that motivation I can’t be absolutely sure I’d have got past the first few chapter...more As Deighton admits in the preface to the Silver jubilee Edition that I read, ‘Like many inexperienced writers I expected far too much from my readers.’ And it’s this assumption that that the reader will ‘be aware of every tiny detail and allusion’ that makes this book, at least initially, a less than easy read. Of course, the film and the reputation of the book gives the reader motivation to stick with it. Without that motivation I can’t be absolutely sure I’d have got past the first few chapters. However, I’m glad I did.

This 1960s spy story has far more depth and character development than the Bond novels that were more or less contemporaneous. The use of the unreliable first person narrator was risky but actually worked well, adding an extra layer of uncertainty to the described events. I can recall being similarly fascinated by the literature about brain-washing at the time, as a teenager. And this central theme lifts the tale out of the usual spy story genre. It is, of course, a thriller. But it’s a thriller with heart and emotion. The reader cares about the characters. The action is driven by those characters rather than formula driven.

There are places where aspects of the story are almost incomprehensible, dialogue sections where the identity of the speakers is all but impossible to ascribe, passages that appear meaningless until later in the book, when they fall into place. All this adds to the general air of confusion, uncertainty and mystery.

Deighton introduces female characters with personality, strength and intelligence and improves the story no end by so doing. His male characters are varied, detailed and credible. His depictions of the worlds of the high-ranking military, politics and the intelligence community come across with great authority, as though he was personally involved in each of these spheres of activity. I can only assume that his research was meticulous and involved many personal contacts.
Unless, of course, he was so steeped in the burgeoning spy literature of the time that he absorbed the most striking and probable aspects of these worlds and was able to apply his own brand of fiction in such a way as to make them utterly believable.

I’m unsure how I missed this in my earlier days of reading. Certainly, I read most of the Bond novels through my teens and early twenties. I did, of course, catch the film. But I’d forgotten that until I began reading. I must try to see it again. For the book, I can say that I enjoyed it as a thriller with real character. I shall probably now read more of the author’s work as and when I come across it. If you haven’t read this one and you enjoy action combined with wit and emotionally complete characters in your fiction, then I recommend this book to you.
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Mar 10, 2011 John rated it 3 of 5 stars

Bearing little relation to the film starring Michael Caine, this novel follows the moves of an operative of the British secret police as he is implicated in a cold war plot involving nuclear weapons and hypnosis of scientists and engineers – although the latter part, which is the main plot of the film, is revealed only near the end of the book.

Concisely (although competently) written, it is at times a little difficult to follow.

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Mar 06, 2013 Pamela rated it 2 of 5 stars

Not at all of the same quality as Berlin Game and the others. The problem wasn't that the story was difficult to follow (it was) or that the main character's character never seemed to materialize (it didn't). The problem was that despite the torture, the kidnapping, the secrecy, the plotting and counter-plotting, the book was just downright boring.

And what was up with the appendices? Talk about annoying!

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Mar 31, 2010 Leo rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: mi6

It is the beginning of the cold war era where science and technology start to be premium and humint (human intelligence) is at its maximum. The book is mostly a character base and not an action run. The plot in itself is a bit confusing and hard to unravel. You start out in London then Lebanon, then a Pacific Island and then Eastern Europe someplace. Michael Palmer is a bureaucrat spy invariably witty. Just when you think you are lost and you are about to stop it starts getting interesting and y...more

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Nov 23, 2012 Chris rated it 2 of 5 stars

I am not a spy fiction fan, but I had heard this book praised. It had some good bits, mainly because it made the spy business seem workaday and full of the pettiness that is part of any bureaucracy. While the details were well-written, the plot, as related by the first person narrator, was opaque at times. I don't feel tempted to reread the novel to see if it was me or Deighton with the problem.

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Sep 11, 2011 Laura Hoffman Brauman rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I was very excited when the Deighton spy novels were re-released after being out of print for quite some time. Enjoyed it -- but not as engrossing as I had hoped. It was interesting to read from a historical perspective -- they were in one of the top intelligence divisions, so they had an IBM machine (book was originally published in 1962). In reading this, though, I could see the influence that Deighton had on the many authors of espionage fiction that came after him.

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Nov 08, 2011 Anita rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery-detective

The writing was very good in dialog and character development, but I found it a little hard to follow the plot. There was some very good humor, but there were spots where I didn't understand the British reference and missed the point. I will try another book by Deighton, because I do like his style with subtle humor.

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Aug 07, 2011 Tiina rated it 4 of 5 stars

Deighton writes so well, yet there is the story! I love the way he writes.

The story was complex with twists and turns and lies and deception everywhere. I read most of the book in short bits which made it more difficult to follow the storyline. Next, I think I'll revisit some of his other books that I have (Horse Under Water and Funeral in Berlin, for example).

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Aug 31, 2010 Paul McMeekin rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: thriller, spy

For the first 200 pages or so I hadn't a clue what was going on. I felt that some of the dialogue was difficult to follow and at times it was impossible to tell who was saying what in a conversation. The last third of the book improved quite a bit but it left me wondering what I'd missed at the start! May require a re-read at some future point.

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Jan 28, 2013 Brandon rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery-and-crime

I think I was expecting something a bit more like Le Carre, who even in A Perfect Spy is a much more linear storyteller. I felt unsure what was happening and why most of the time, although the nameless spy himself is a fascinating character. I can see why it's been so influential on the genre, but I'm not sure I really enjoyed it.

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Mar 10, 2009 Gramarye rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: literature, history-coldwar, history-fiction

A good crunchy bit of Cold War espionage fiction, full of clandestine missions and double- or treble-crosses and brainwashing (or rather, 'thought reform') and irrepressibly British characters. Not as realistic as Le Carre or as flash as Fleming, but still worth polishing off at the beach or over a long weekend.

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Aug 03, 2012 Bro_Pair أعرف rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

What a disappointment. This book should've been great. The first 100 pages are very entertaining, what with its demolition of the "James Bond" spy archetype (the protagonist is mainly concerned with receiving his paycheck, shopping for food, avoiding awkward social situations). The book totally falls apart when it heads to the South Pacific and barely recovers after. What a waste.

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Oct 05, 2012 Jason Tutterrow rated it 5 of 5 stars

I enjoy the spy genre, so I had high hopes for this book before I started reading it. This book ran the gamit. There were narrow escapes, mysterious deaths, seedy dealings, double agents, and brainwashing. It is hard to fathom that this is Len Deighton's debut, because it is written in a way that makes the reader feel that this is an experienced writer honing his craft. Ironically, enough, this book was such a success that it was made into a smash hit film just a year after publication. In fact,...more

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Aug 13, 2012 Tim rated it 5 of 5 stars

The first of four books by Deighton using the same unnamed character. Although many would say later books were the same person engaged in similar activities.
The start of my addiction to Deighton as a fiction, non fiction historical, and cookbook writer

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Sep 17, 2011 David Williamson rated it 3 of 5 stars

A book you can tell is his first, lots of clever uses of analogy and metaphor that are funny and witty, but sadly difficult to read, then re-read. The book also has a rather clumsy end that ties all the clues together. But a good read non-the-less.

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Aug 28, 2012 Bill rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: cold-war, fiction, spy

I very much wanted to like this book as it is a classic movie as well and in parts I did. But ultimately, unfortunately, it kind of just left me feeling sort of blah. I got the gist of the story; brain-washing, infiltrators into the UK spy organization, but it was sort of all over the place. This was Deighton's first story and heralded a great writing career. I do have a couple of other books by him to read and this hasn't put me off, but I do think it could have been better.

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About Len Deighton

Deighton was born in Marylebone, London, in 1929. His father was a chauffeur and mechanic, and his mother was a part-time cook.After leaving school, Deighton worked as a railway clerk before performing his National Service, which he spent as a photographer for the Royal Air Force's Special Investigation Branch. After discharge from the RAF, he studied at St Martin's School of Art in London in 1949...more Deighton was born in Marylebone, London, in 1929. His father was a chauffeur and mechanic, and his mother was a part-time cook.After leaving school, Deighton worked as a railway clerk before performing his National Service, which he spent as a photographer for the Royal Air Force's Special Investigation Branch. After discharge from the RAF, he studied at St Martin's School of Art in London in 1949, and in 1952 won a scholarship to the Royal College of Art, graduating in 1955.

Deighton worked as an airline steward with BOAC. Before he began his writing career he worked as an illustrator in New York and, in 1960, as an art director in a London advertising agency. He is credited with creating the first British cover for Kerouac's On the Road. He has since used his drawing skills to illustrate a number of his own military history books.

Following the success of his first novels, Deighton became The Observer's cookery writer and produced illustrated cookbooks. In September 1967 he wrote an article in the Sunday Times Magazine about Operation Snowdrop - an SAS attack on Benghazi during World War II. The following year David Stirling would be awarded substantial damages in libel from the article.

He also wrote travel guides and became travel editor of Playboy, before becoming a film producer. After producing a film adaption of his 1968 novel Only When I Larf, Deighton and photographer Brian Duffy bought the film rights to Joan Littlewood and Theatre Workshop's stage musical Oh, What a Lovely War! He had his name removed from the credits of the film, however, which was a move that he later described as "stupid and infantile." That was his last involvement with the cinema.

Deighton left England in 1969. He briefly resided in Blackrock, County Louth in Ireland. He has not returned to England apart from some personal visits and very few media appearances, his last one since 1985 being a 2006 interview which formed part of a "Len Deighton Night" on BBC Four. He and his wife Ysabele divide their time between homes in Portugal and Guernsey.

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Quotes from The Ipcress File

“He had a long thin nose, a moustache like flock wallpaper, sparse, carefully combed hair, and the complexion of a Hovis loaf.” — 1 person liked it

“I think Jay is in import and export business as his cards say, but he finally found that the second most valuable commodity today is information."
"And?"
"The most valuable?"
"People with information," I suggested.” — 1 person liked it

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The Ipcress File (Secret File #1)

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