When an author dies, it usually spells the literary end of his creation. Not so James Bond. Sebastian Faulks is but one of many authors since Ian Fleming’s death in 1964 to take on his mantle, some more successfully than others. Kingsley Amis was the first, in 1968, and his novel Colonel Sun was deemed so good, people assumed it was based on writings and plans Fleming had made before his death. It wasn’t. Amis wrote under the pseudonym of Robert Markham, a device to enable several authors to contribute to a potential series. After only moderate sales, however, that plan was scrapped, and fans had to wait until 1981 for a new literary Bond adventure. This time, the man chosen was John Gardner – like Amis an established and successful author. Originally intending to write just the one book, Gardner ended up with an output equalling that of Fleming: 14 novels in total, a commendable achievement, although Bond fans were divided over their artistic merit.

Fleming was nothing if not a canny businessman. When he started writing his Bond novels, in the early 1950s, he set up his own company, Glidrose. It still exists, only it is now called Ian Fleming Publications. “We concentrate on keeping Ian’s books going,” says Corinne Turner, the managing director. “They’re the jewel in our crown, though it’s also our aim to expand the brand with other books.”

The Fleming family, which wholly owns the company, is heavily involved in its running. “They read everything we do,” Turner says. Perhaps that’s the secret of its longevity. Like Disney, Bond is a family business, so decisions aren’t made purely on a let’s-make-as-much-money-as-possible basis, but on whether they are right for the character. It is no coincidence that Eon, maker of the Bond movies, is also run by the heirs of the original 007 producer, Cubby Broccoli, his daughter Barbara and stepson Michael G Wilson.

Breaking with tradition, the next Bond author after Gardner was an American, an untried novelist and a fan. Raymond Benson’s 1984 work, The James Bond Bedside Companion, drew the attention of Peter Janson-Smith, formerly Fleming’s literary agent and director of Glidrose, and Nicholas Fleming, Ian’s nephew. “When John Gardner decided to retire from the novel gig in 1995,” Benson says, “Janson-Smith asked if I’d like to give it a shot. I was amazed he’d even think to offer the job to me.”

He says he enjoyed enormously his seven-year, six-book tenure as Bond author. “My directive was to produce contemporary stories that were more or less in sync with the current Pierce Brosnan films – with plenty of action and gadgetry. But they also wanted a Bond who was less politically correct than he had been in the recent books, more like Fleming’s original character: colder, more ruthless and with many vices. So, my books were much more of a blend of the films and the original novels.”

The relationship between the Bond movie and book worlds has been a positive one. Although they work independently of each other, Eon and Ian Fleming Publications keep each other in the loop. “The Fleming family is always sent the film scripts to read,” Turner says. “And we send Eon whatever we’re working on. Some of the first people to read Sebastian Faulks’s manuscript were Robert Sellers Robert Sellers is the author of Battle for Bond, published by Tomahawk Press in July

For an interactive guide to Ian Fleming and James Bond, go to timesonline.co.uk/bond Barbara and Michael; we’re all interested in each other’s business. But we, as publishers, don’t have any input in the films.” It is a lack of influence Turner isn’t worried about; the producers are hardly going to do anything stupid, like suddenly cast Christopher Biggins as M. “This legacy is as important to them as it is to the Fleming family, and they protect it just as carefully. Our interests are totally aligned.”

In recent years, the Fleming legacy has gone in some unexpected directions, with The Moneypenny Diaries by Samantha Weinberg and, most successfully of all, the Young Bond novels of Charlie Higson. “The idea of writing a Bond book was irresistible to a fan like me,” the former Fast Show comedian recalls. “As a kid, I always fantasised about one day playing Bond in the movies. I know now that’s never going to happen, so being able to write about Bond is the next best thing.” For years, publishers, teachers and parents had been moaning that boys weren’t reading books. Higson thinks maybe it was just that nobody was writing the type of books they wanted to read.

“I’ve got three boys. They like action, fighting, gory deaths, guns, explosions. Trying to write books that are as immediate, engrossing and exciting as the computer games they love to play is quite a challenge. I quickly saw how the series might work – to take all the classic Fleming elements and scale them to a level that kids could relate to.”

It paid off in spades, and the fifth book, By Royal Command, is out in September. Then, who knows?

“The plan was always for five books about his Eton years,” Higson says. “None of us could have foreseen just how popular the books were going to be, though, so obviously the impetus is there for more.”

Spin-offs aside, the centenary of Fleming’s birth this year seemed the most opportune moment to return Bond to the adult literary world and a chance to attract a really special author. “I read Sebastian Faulks’s On Green Dolphin Street and loved it,” Turner says, “I thought then that he’d be quite interesting. When it was revealed that we’d brought in an author, but weren’t saying who it was, everyone assumed it was Martin Amis, or somebody in the thriller genre, but we wanted to do something that was completely different. I never imagined we could attract somebody like Sebastian.”

With Devil May Care set to top the bestseller lists and the film Quantum of Solace out later in the year, Bond is probably more alive now than he has ever been. But is this centenary novel a one-off? Not necessarily, Turner says. “We have a number of projects in mind. Nothing concrete to talk about at the moment, but there will be some more novels in the future.”

Britain’s most durable fictional character lives on.

Robert Sellers is the author of Battle for Bond, published by Tomahawk Press in July

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