My favourite fictional character: George Smiley is unattractive, overweight, a terrible dresser – and a better spy than James Bond

Alexander Howard stumbled on spymaster John Le Carré soon after relishing a James Bond film. And he was instantly hooked on George Smiley, Le Carré’s unglamorous bureaucrat-detective – an unlikely hero.

Related Keywords

Cuba ,Petersburg ,Sankt Peterburg ,Russia ,United Kingdom ,Great Missenden ,Buckinghamshire ,Sawley ,Leicestershire ,Cuban ,British ,Britain ,Soviet ,John Le Carr ,James Bond ,Tom Cruise ,Samuel Fennan ,Mick Herron Slough ,Lady Ann Sercomb ,Jilly Cooper ,Kim Philby ,Alec Guinness ,James Joyce ,George Smiley ,Gary Oldman ,Lady Ann ,Pierce Brosnan ,Ian Fleming ,Le Carr ,Guinness ,Cold War ,Viscount Sawley ,Jackson Lamb ,Slow Horses ,Mick Herron ,Slough House ,Secret Pilgrim ,Soviet Union ,John Le Carre ,Y Favourite Fictional Character ,Spy Fiction ,