A Perfect Spy Access

Unlike the procedural tension of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy , this novel focuses on the of espionage. Le Carré himself admitted that writing it was a cathartic experience, as Rick was a thinly veiled version of his own father, Ronnie Cornwell.

Magnus is the son of Rick Pym , a flamboyant and pathological con artist. Rick taught Magnus that "the art of it was to forget everything except the ground you stood on and the face you spoke from at that moment". This upbringing made Magnus the "perfect spy" because he learned early on how to inhabit multiple realities simultaneously without guilt. A Perfect Spy

The story centers on , a high-ranking British intelligence officer who vanishes following his father's funeral. As his mentor Jack Brotherhood and his wife Mary scramble to find him, Pym has actually retreated to a quiet boarding house in Devon to write his own history—a long, honest account of his betrayals intended for his son, Tom. The narrative is famously non-linear, alternating between: Unlike the procedural tension of Tinker Tailor Soldier