Robert Markham is a

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

used by author

Kingsley Amis Sir Kingsley William Amis (16 April 1922 – 22 October 1995) was an English novelist, poet, critic, and teacher. He wrote more than 20 novels, six volumes of poetry, a memoir, short stories, radio and television scripts, and works of social a ...

to publish ''

Colonel Sun ''Colonel Sun'' is a novel by Kingsley Amis published by Jonathan Cape on 28 March 1968 under the pseudonym "Robert Markham". ''Colonel Sun'' is the first James Bond continuation novel published after Ian Fleming's 1964 death. Before writing th ...

'' in March 1968. The book was the first continuation

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

novel following the death of Bond's creator, Ian Fleming.

Kingsley Amis

Following the death of Ian Fleming on 12 August 1964, the rights to the Bond novels were held by Glidrose Publications (now Ian Fleming Publications). After Glidrose released the remaining Fleming works—'' The Man with the Golden Gun'' and ''

Octopussy and The Living Daylights ''Octopussy and The Living Daylights'' (sometimes published as ''Octopussy'') is the 14th and final James Bond book written by Ian Fleming in the Bond series. The book is a collection of short stories published posthumously in the United Ki ...

''—they decided to commission a sequel in order to retain rights in the Bond product. They chose Amis to write the first continuation Bond novel; Amis had previously produced '' The James Bond Dossier''—a critical analysis of the Bond books—under his own name, and '' The Book of Bond'', a tongue-in-cheek manual for prospective agents, using the pseudonym Lt.-Col. William ("Bill") Tanner. For the pseudonym, Peter Fleming - Ian Fleming's brother - initially suggested "George Glidrose". Jonathan Cape rejected this name, claiming that it had no selling or publicity power. Markham was then chosen. Despite this, Amis's involvement as continuation author was not a secret; American editions of the book identified Amis as the author, though the main Robert Markham credit remained.

Future ideas

Amis had unhappily visited Mexico in January 1968. From this experience grew the idea for another Bond story. According to the New York Times Book Review, "Mr. Amis never moves about by air, and cultivated his own deficiencies - his phrase - he went from St. Louis to Mexico City by train. En route, he remembered that Bond loved trains ( ''From Russia, with Love'') and found himself plotting an assassination on a train. Then as his train moved on, there occurred the inevitable sentence, ''Bond had never liked Acapulco.''" The plot would centre around tensions between

British Honduras British Honduras was a British Crown colony on the east coast of Central America, south of Mexico, from 1783 to 1964, then a self-governing colony, renamed Belize in June 1973,

and Guatemala over rival claims to Mexico. A syndicated

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...

story also implied that Amis may kill Bond off for good. According to the article, a bazooka-wielding bartender would blast Bond on a train in Mexico. Amis was inconsistent if this would result in a novel or a short story. The 1970 Associated Press story claimed it would be Amis's next book. However, in a 1968 letter to

Robert Conquest George Robert Acworth Conquest (15 July 1917 – 3 August 2015) was a British historian and poet. A long-time research fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution, Conquest was most notable for his work on the Soviet Union. His books ...

, Amis clearly states that it would only be a short story. Amis also approached Glidrose with an idea for a Bond short story that would have featured a 70-year-old Bond coming out of retirement for one final mission, but permission was not granted.

References

Bibliography

* * * First published by Jonathan Cape in 1974. * * {{Kingsley Amis, state=collapsed Markham, Robert Pseudonymous writers