A Perfect Spy is [John le Carré]'s eleventh novel. Published in 1986, it is the life story of British spy Magnus Pym, who attends his father's funeral and then promptly disappears. We see both sides — the search for Pym as well as his whereabouts and reflections on his life as he writes a letter to his son, Tom.

As the novel progresses, we learn that Pym's life has been greatly shaped by his father, Rick, a [con artist], and by a mysterious man named Axel. We learn about Pym's relationship with his family, his two marriages and his son. To get into it any more would risk spoiling things, but it's a fascinating read. As is the case with many of le Carré's novels, it's worth re-reading to pick up on clues that escaped notice the first time through.

A Perfect Spy is one of le Carré's longer works, and while none of it seems like filler, it can be somewhat difficult if you're not reading large chunks at a time. I read it while commuting over the course of a few weeks, and usually had to re-read the previous chapter to get my bearings again. That said, it was worth it.

Reviews for A Perfect Spy were almost uniformly positive; the [Globe and Mail] said it was le Carré's best. It is certainly his most autobiographical; while he drew from his own intelligence background when crafting all of his espionage novels, Rick Pym was loosely based on his own father, who was also a con artist. Remarkably, despite the high praise for the novel, including noted English professor Matthew Bruccoli's claim that it was his "masterpiece," le Carré didn't include it on a list of what he thought were his four best novels ([The Spy Who Came in From the Cold], [Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy], [The Tailor of Panama] and [The Constant Gardener]).

The [BBC] adapated the novel as a made-for-TV movie in 1987. Peter Egan started as Magnus.

A Perfect Spy (thing)