John le Carré never won the Booker – but then he preferred it out in the cold | Simon Jenkins

The late novelist, who eschewed literary prizes, was a shadowy giant of post-war British fiction

John le Carré never won the Booker prize. His genre – a mix of espionage and detective thriller – wasn’t always in literary fashion even as it was hugely popular, selling some 60m copies. Le Carré refused to let his work be entered into literary prizes, though he did in his early career and in recent years had been recognised with honours such as the prestigious Olof Palme award. The complexity and de...