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Philip McAlpine #1
The Dolly, Dolly Spy
“The Dolly, Dolly Spy’s got modernity, sex appeal, enormous speed, cheekiness, high-tension, some four-lettered words and great originality.” So begins the accolade by Whitefriar of Smith’s Trade News, Britain’s leading advance spotter of best sellers, for Adam Diment's first spy novel. It is a unique bit of mod-fiction, introducing Diment’s delightfully uninhibited creation, Philip McAlpine, whom Whitefriar asserts is “certainly going to rival J. Bond, and Deighton’s Harry Palmer. He could become a household word.”
Philip McAlpine suddenly finds himself a professional spy the day British Intelligence blackmails him into an assignment. McAlpine is a good pilot, able to speak Greek, able to use a gun, and experienced in Intelligence work—all necessary talents for his new role as part of International Charter Incorporated, a cargo and passenger service which guarantees to fly anything anywhere, for a price. To McAlpine is assured their biggest cargo. And from then on, from the Texas desert to the Aegean, he has to talk fast, and move even faster, to stay alive. A most modern and amusing spy story which has already caught the eye of the film industry and is appearing in seven foreign countries.
Philip McAlpine suddenly finds himself a professional spy the day British Intelligence blackmails him into an assignment. McAlpine is a good pilot, able to speak Greek, able to use a gun, and experienced in Intelligence work—all necessary talents for his new role as part of International Charter Incorporated, a cargo and passenger service which guarantees to fly anything anywhere, for a price. To McAlpine is assured their biggest cargo. And from then on, from the Texas desert to the Aegean, he has to talk fast, and move even faster, to stay alive. A most modern and amusing spy story which has already caught the eye of the film industry and is appearing in seven foreign countries.
187 pages, Hardcover
First published October 23, 1967
1 person is currently reading
109 people want to read
About the author
Adam Diment
12 books6 followersFrederick Adam Diment (born 1943) is a spy novelist who published four novels between 1967 and 1971. All four are about the adventures of Philip McAlpine whom critic Anthony Boucher described as an agent who smokes hashish, leads a highly active sex life, kills vividly, uses (or even coins) the latest London slang and still seems a perfectly real (and even oddly likeable) young man rather than a reflected Bond image.
A film version of The Dolly Dolly Spy with David Hemmings playing McAlpine was scheduled to go into production but was never made.
Diment disappeared from public view after his last novel, adding to his cult figure status among fans of 1960s spy novels. According to The Observer, by 1975 Diment was living in Zurich, shunning publicity, and had no plans to write further novels. A publisher is attempting to re-issue his books via a crowdfunding scheme.
A film version of The Dolly Dolly Spy with David Hemmings playing McAlpine was scheduled to go into production but was never made.
Diment disappeared from public view after his last novel, adding to his cult figure status among fans of 1960s spy novels. According to The Observer, by 1975 Diment was living in Zurich, shunning publicity, and had no plans to write further novels. A publisher is attempting to re-issue his books via a crowdfunding scheme.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
June 29, 2015
3.5; much more entertaining and less dated than the slangy, rather incomprehensible title might suggest,this unconventional espionage tale features a swinging 60's anti-hero press-ganged into secret service. His narration, cynical and laced with dry wit, is part Harry Palmer and part Charlie Mortdecai, driving the story at a quick, cinematic pace, while the final analysis of his profession and world is for my money as powerful as anything found in Le Carre.
February 15, 2018
The Dolly Dolly Spy is the first of four books by Adam Diment featuring British spy, Philip McAlpine. It was first published in 1967 and it definitely has that '60s vibe about it. McAlpine is a security officer for a big firm and is blackmailed into working for a subset of MI6.
He is sent for pilot and armed combat training in the US and assigned to a job with a company, International Charters that works out of a small island in Greece. He does legal and illegal flying missions and periodically reports back to his boss in England with information on his missions. Ultimately he gets assigned a specific mission, to acquire a target that MI6 wants to interrogate.
On its own it's a relatively simple spy story but there is more to it than that. The feel for the time is excellent. It's maybe a James Bond light but the characters are interesting. McAlpine is a neat guy, kind of a coward but still a guy whose quick off the mark and a problem solver. There is enough action, a bit of sex and drugs and rock 'n roll, and an entertaining spy story. Diment disappeared after his fourth book and has retained a cult following (from what I read anyway). If the other books are as entertaining, I'm looking forward to them. (4 stars)
He is sent for pilot and armed combat training in the US and assigned to a job with a company, International Charters that works out of a small island in Greece. He does legal and illegal flying missions and periodically reports back to his boss in England with information on his missions. Ultimately he gets assigned a specific mission, to acquire a target that MI6 wants to interrogate.
On its own it's a relatively simple spy story but there is more to it than that. The feel for the time is excellent. It's maybe a James Bond light but the characters are interesting. McAlpine is a neat guy, kind of a coward but still a guy whose quick off the mark and a problem solver. There is enough action, a bit of sex and drugs and rock 'n roll, and an entertaining spy story. Diment disappeared after his fourth book and has retained a cult following (from what I read anyway). If the other books are as entertaining, I'm looking forward to them. (4 stars)
May 23, 2020
A swinging sixties, ant- hero spy story. Not for those of you who cannot handle politically incorrect stories. This book is a snapshot of the late 60s, a time capsule if you will.
Our anti-hero is blackmailed into working for the British security services. I enjoyed the tale of how he is forced into an under-cover mission with its twists and turns. Think of him as a cooler Harry Palmer, a bit of a coward though but a street smart quick thinker. I enjoyed the book and keen to tackle the next 3 in the series.
This book is best read when you want something light and fun rather than a realistic, gripping spy novel. Enjoy!
Our anti-hero is blackmailed into working for the British security services. I enjoyed the tale of how he is forced into an under-cover mission with its twists and turns. Think of him as a cooler Harry Palmer, a bit of a coward though but a street smart quick thinker. I enjoyed the book and keen to tackle the next 3 in the series.
This book is best read when you want something light and fun rather than a realistic, gripping spy novel. Enjoy!
July 16, 2012
I wonder if this book is still in 'my archives'? That's a range of shelves in my daughter's house.
The book is the height of silliness with masses of drug taking, graphic sex and ingenious violence. Quite excellent in it's own way - Swinging London meets James Bond. Funny, convoluted but ultimately forgettable plot, irreverent and steamy in the right places. A perfect book for adolescent boys. I'm sure it is horribly non-pc now.
I'm sure it was the idea behind the Austin Powers movie franchise.
Perhaps a more interesting story is that of the author Adam Diment. He disappeared after his 4th novel was published. In the 60's Adam Diment was huge - he had his picture in Time Magazine and was lauded in London. Then he vanished. Rumour had it he was in Switzerland, another was that he had bought a small cottage and lived there with his new wife.
A very comprehensive review of his life can be seen here. The review dispels my theory that Adam Diment was David Hemmings since they are seen together in a photograph. They both look quite alike though.
http://www.nickelinthemachine.com/200...
I must find out if the book is still in print - oops, just checked and yes it is. I must order a new copy and take a trip down memory lane.
The book is the height of silliness with masses of drug taking, graphic sex and ingenious violence. Quite excellent in it's own way - Swinging London meets James Bond. Funny, convoluted but ultimately forgettable plot, irreverent and steamy in the right places. A perfect book for adolescent boys. I'm sure it is horribly non-pc now.
I'm sure it was the idea behind the Austin Powers movie franchise.
Perhaps a more interesting story is that of the author Adam Diment. He disappeared after his 4th novel was published. In the 60's Adam Diment was huge - he had his picture in Time Magazine and was lauded in London. Then he vanished. Rumour had it he was in Switzerland, another was that he had bought a small cottage and lived there with his new wife.
A very comprehensive review of his life can be seen here. The review dispels my theory that Adam Diment was David Hemmings since they are seen together in a photograph. They both look quite alike though.
http://www.nickelinthemachine.com/200...
I must find out if the book is still in print - oops, just checked and yes it is. I must order a new copy and take a trip down memory lane.
September 5, 2021
I was expecting a cooler James Bond, with sexy chicks and some drug use. What I got was some unpleasant racist language, pretty much from the get go, a smidgeon of sex and some drug use. There are also Nazis.
I picked up the first two Philip McAlpine books by Adam Diment after Unbound wrote about putting out a definitive edition of all four novels. Turns out they never raised enough money to move forward with that edition so I'm left with two battered 60s paperbacks from a forgotten author and his hipster spy. Plot-wise this was a far simpler affair than Fleming's Bond books. There's an attempt at placing McAlpine at the heart of some global spy caper with the Yanks squaring off against British intelligence for control of an international smuggling operation, but it never really hangs together. McAlpine is competent enough and he's smart enough to survive, but he's way more of a romantic that Commander Bond and while this was clearly intentional, it also weakens him. Diverting enough for me to get to the other one I have at some point, but the racism was a bit much and it's not the end of the world that this has been largely forgotten.
I picked up the first two Philip McAlpine books by Adam Diment after Unbound wrote about putting out a definitive edition of all four novels. Turns out they never raised enough money to move forward with that edition so I'm left with two battered 60s paperbacks from a forgotten author and his hipster spy. Plot-wise this was a far simpler affair than Fleming's Bond books. There's an attempt at placing McAlpine at the heart of some global spy caper with the Yanks squaring off against British intelligence for control of an international smuggling operation, but it never really hangs together. McAlpine is competent enough and he's smart enough to survive, but he's way more of a romantic that Commander Bond and while this was clearly intentional, it also weakens him. Diverting enough for me to get to the other one I have at some point, but the racism was a bit much and it's not the end of the world that this has been largely forgotten.
January 12, 2022
It's hard to find the words for this espionage novel. Is it a parody? I'd like to think so, with Philip McAlpine naturally resulting from a combination of James Bond, Maxwell Smart, Napoleon Solo, and Austin Powers. But the book was written and published in 1967 - with all the misogyny, racism, and antisemitism of that era appearing more prominently in the story than a modern reader has the stomach for. It doesn't completely permeate the book, but McAlpine's treatment and views of women, even his girlfriend Veronica, is abhorrent - the occasional nastiness of Bond coupled with a very ugly indifference for which his flashes of regret can't possibly atone.
The novel's strength is the writer's humor and writing ability - he can definitely tell a story, complete with thrilling action scenes and descriptive scenic passages, as McAlpine jets from London to Texas to a gorgeous Aegean island and everywhere in between. I appreciated Diment's clear recognition, most effectively summarized near the end, of how Britain was a waning power in the cat-and-mouse world of espionage in the decade in which he wrote; he makes it clear that he's seen the writing on the wall and that technology and sheer military might will decide the future "among the rumbling power blocks who now run the world" (186). The exchanges between characters flow naturally and are representative of a certain kind of dark, dry British wit, as when McAlpine's boss, Rupert Quine, asks him about a despatched assassin:
"Are you sure he tried to kill you?"
"Well, when I asked him to drop his gun he shot at me. So I must presume" (105).
This passage where Diment, in McAlpine's voice, describes "cinemaville" might also be a sly homage to the era best remembered in espionage fiction and film for Ian Fleming's coldblooded agent 007:
"The battered hero is the real mistake these picture people make. Get yourself battered by professionals and you'd never make the final reel - let alone round up the villains. The only way to keep ahead is to shoot, bash, and kick first - even if you do hurt an innocent bystander occasionally" (107).
Sprinkled in with the humor, though, are some realistic but very disturbing flashback scenes, to Warsaw and Germany under the Nazis in World War II. The rape and torture of innocents as the Nazis advance and pillage is difficult to stomach; fortunately the scenes are brief. Diment uses these scenes effectively, to give the reader a good idea of the kind of hideous, sociopathic villains that his spy is up against.
So, one star for the casual repellent way that McAlpine talks about women and people of color. If the book were updated without those elements, I would give it four stars for the plotting, action, and dialogue. I'll average it out to two stars. A very problematic book to read in the twenty-first century, one I couldn't recommend to a customer but found useful to place in a timeline of espionage fiction as an example of its era.
The novel's strength is the writer's humor and writing ability - he can definitely tell a story, complete with thrilling action scenes and descriptive scenic passages, as McAlpine jets from London to Texas to a gorgeous Aegean island and everywhere in between. I appreciated Diment's clear recognition, most effectively summarized near the end, of how Britain was a waning power in the cat-and-mouse world of espionage in the decade in which he wrote; he makes it clear that he's seen the writing on the wall and that technology and sheer military might will decide the future "among the rumbling power blocks who now run the world" (186). The exchanges between characters flow naturally and are representative of a certain kind of dark, dry British wit, as when McAlpine's boss, Rupert Quine, asks him about a despatched assassin:
"Are you sure he tried to kill you?"
"Well, when I asked him to drop his gun he shot at me. So I must presume" (105).
This passage where Diment, in McAlpine's voice, describes "cinemaville" might also be a sly homage to the era best remembered in espionage fiction and film for Ian Fleming's coldblooded agent 007:
"The battered hero is the real mistake these picture people make. Get yourself battered by professionals and you'd never make the final reel - let alone round up the villains. The only way to keep ahead is to shoot, bash, and kick first - even if you do hurt an innocent bystander occasionally" (107).
Sprinkled in with the humor, though, are some realistic but very disturbing flashback scenes, to Warsaw and Germany under the Nazis in World War II. The rape and torture of innocents as the Nazis advance and pillage is difficult to stomach; fortunately the scenes are brief. Diment uses these scenes effectively, to give the reader a good idea of the kind of hideous, sociopathic villains that his spy is up against.
So, one star for the casual repellent way that McAlpine talks about women and people of color. If the book were updated without those elements, I would give it four stars for the plotting, action, and dialogue. I'll average it out to two stars. A very problematic book to read in the twenty-first century, one I couldn't recommend to a customer but found useful to place in a timeline of espionage fiction as an example of its era.
October 1, 2018
This is a fun, lighthearted, very VERY 1960's spy thriller.
Philip McAlpine is a swinging cool young man who. I suspect is a bit of an alter ego of the author. He is blackmailed into doing risky spy work for a fictional English offshoot of MI6 and goes of into the Mediterranean to smoke hash, fly planes and get shot at.
Gloriously, entirely dated, this novel is still every bit as much fun as it was when I first read in back in the day. Because it does not take itself even a little bit seriously, because McAlpine is a lot of fun to read about and the writing is very nice, it has weathered the decades very well indeed.
Philip McAlpine is a swinging cool young man who. I suspect is a bit of an alter ego of the author. He is blackmailed into doing risky spy work for a fictional English offshoot of MI6 and goes of into the Mediterranean to smoke hash, fly planes and get shot at.
Gloriously, entirely dated, this novel is still every bit as much fun as it was when I first read in back in the day. Because it does not take itself even a little bit seriously, because McAlpine is a lot of fun to read about and the writing is very nice, it has weathered the decades very well indeed.
November 10, 2023
Always fascinated with anything from the actual swinging sixties, I was attracted by the promise of mod fun and loads of 1967 slang (and the Brian Jones-like figure on the cover), but it was both more and less. There wasn’t as much about the scene in London as I would have liked—just notes that Philip loves Dylan, hash, and clothes. Mostly Phil was elsewhere in the world: Texas, Greece, Paris…flying, spying, and having sex with his steady, Veronica. The only slang word that popped up a lot was “luv.” I had no idea that men called each other “luv,” “sweetie,” “darling,” and “dear” so much at this time.
Philip has a scruple: he won’t ship hard drugs.
Near the end, it got more serious than before, with flashbacks to a Nazi’s past (but how does Phil know the Nazi’s past? You can’t do omniscient with a non-psychic narrator!) showing how truly unforgivable he is, and this final observation:
This book may not have so many reviews, but they’re almost all good and in-depth. So why do none of them mention ? That really bothered me. Something else that bothered me was that this book has the only semi-sympathetic (ex)-Nazi character that I think I’ve ever read.
There's mention of a band called the Tribe, “a group which combine Christ-like haircuts with LSD.” Real? Perhaps not.
It's a shame the movie adaptation never happened. The author could have played his hero himself—he was better-looking than David Hemmings. I wish I could add the photo proving this.
This author may have been good-looking, but I sense real jerkiness, if his character is a lot like himself. This book's appeal is almost as shallow (but not quite).
QUESTIONER: Mr. McAlpine, have you ever had any homosexual experiences?Ouch. That’s putting it rather bluntly, isn’t it. I found this disturbing.
MCALPINE: I went to an English public school. Of course I’ve had homosexual experiences.
Philip has a scruple: he won’t ship hard drugs.
Near the end, it got more serious than before, with flashbacks to a Nazi’s past (but how does Phil know the Nazi’s past? You can’t do omniscient with a non-psychic narrator!) showing how truly unforgivable he is, and this final observation:
This country is, for the time being, a whore. Our Empire has gone and our people remain lazy. We are clever, original, class-ridden and small. The sooner we can get back to being another small country and forget our now useless role of world arbitrator the better. Nobody has listened to our advice for years; it is just accepting this fact which is painful. Meanwhile we export fashion and trend to the rest of them, like a good little whore should. I had been the ponce scurrying around for Britannia among the rumbling power blocks who now rule the world.Harsh. But good.
This book may not have so many reviews, but they’re almost all good and in-depth. So why do none of them mention ? That really bothered me. Something else that bothered me was that this book has the only semi-sympathetic (ex)-Nazi character that I think I’ve ever read.
There's mention of a band called the Tribe, “a group which combine Christ-like haircuts with LSD.” Real? Perhaps not.
It's a shame the movie adaptation never happened. The author could have played his hero himself—he was better-looking than David Hemmings. I wish I could add the photo proving this.
This author may have been good-looking, but I sense real jerkiness, if his character is a lot like himself. This book's appeal is almost as shallow (but not quite).
February 10, 2019
Philip McAlpine is the spy Austin Powers wanted to have been. Great fun, 1967-style.
February 21, 2022
Gelezen in het Nederlands. Soms nog al ingewikkeld om te volgen. Je reist van Londen naar Zweden en Ibiza. Het leven van een spion en zijn moeilijkheden worden bloot gelegd.
June 7, 2020
A mopey Austin Powers, more a time capsule at this remove.
October 1, 2016
This was one of my dad's favorite books that i read from his library
The action taking place in the novel was very much before my time, but enjoyed thoroughly
The action taking place in the novel was very much before my time, but enjoyed thoroughly
Want to read
November 7, 2019Synopsis: features British spy Philip McAlpine. He's a security officer for a big firm and gets blackmailed into working for MI6.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews