Novelist John Le Carre, famed for his spy thrillers like Tinker, Tailor, Solder, Spy and The Spy Who Came In From the Cold, died on Saturday at the age of 89, the Associated Press reports.
A veteran of the British Army, Le Carre worked covertly for MI5, the equivalent of the US FBI while teaching at Oxford University. He transferred to the foreign intelligence agency MI6 to work overseas.
After the success of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold in 1963, he became a full-time novelist.
Le Carre is survived by his wife of 48 years, Valérie Jane Eustace, with whom he had one child. He had three children from a previous marriage.