Discover the Penguin books that shaped us

John le Carré reads his Contemporary Classics

byJohn le Carré

Four Novel Collection including The Constant Gardener, Absolute Friends, A Most Wanted Man and Our Kind of Traitor

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Penguin Audio presents a compelling collection of four John le Carré novels, highlighting his modern classics that redefined the espionage genre.

This collection includes the finest examples of his contemporary classics, written between 2001 and 2010, and contains over 15 hours of unmissable drama. It includes captivating adaptations of his classic novels The Constant Gardener, Absolute Friends, A Most Wanted Man, and Our Kind of Traitor.


The Constant Gardener is a powerful tale of love and conspiracy, where British diplomat Justin Quayle investigates the murder of his wife, uncovering a web of corruption and pharmaceutical intrigue in Kenya. Absolute Friends follows the story of Ted Mundy, a British spy, and his German friend Sasha, as they navigate the treacherous waters of post-Cold War espionage, leading to a dramatic and tragic conclusion. A Most Wanted Man is a tense thriller set in Hamburg, where a half-Chechen, half-Russian immigrant becomes the centre of a complex web of international intelligence operations, highlighting the moral ambiguities of the war on terror. Our Kind of Traitor follows British couple Perry and Gail find themselves entangled in a dangerous game of espionage when they befriend a Russian oligarch seeking asylum, leading to a thrilling tale of betrayal and political manoeuvring.

About John le Carré

John le Carré was born in 1931. For six decades, he wrote novels that came to define our age. The son of a confidence trickster, he spent his childhood between boarding school and the London underworld. At sixteen he found refuge at the University of Bern, then later at Oxford. A spell of teaching at Eton led him to a short career in British Intelligence (MI5 & 6). He published his debut novel, Call for the Dead, in 1961 while still a secret servant. His third novel, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, secured him a worldwide reputation, which was consolidated by the acclaim for his trilogy, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Honourable Schoolboy and Smiley's People. At the end of the Cold War, le Carré widened his scope to explore an international landscape including the arms trade and the War on Terror. His memoir, The Pigeon Tunnel, was published in 2016 and the last George Smiley novel, A Legacy of Spies, appeared in 2017. He died on 12 December 2020. His posthumous novel, Silverview, was published in 2021.
Details
  • Imprint: Penguin
  • ISBN: 9781837313020
  • Length: 1020 minutes
  • Price: £16.00