Ian Fleming was British author, journalist, and World War II Navy Commander. He is best known for creating the character of secret agent James Bond and chronicling his adventures in 12 novels and 9 short stories.
Fleming was born in Mayfair, London on May 28, 1908 to Valentine Fleming, a Member of Parliament, and his wife Evelyn St. Croix Fleming. Fleming was educated at Sunningdale School in Berkshire, Eton College, and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. After graduating from school, he worked as a journalist for the Reuters news service and later as a stockbroker with Rowe and Pitman. In 1952, he married Anne Charteris in Jamaica, witnessed by his friend and playwright Noel Coward.
In 1939, on the eve of World War II, Fleming was recruited by the Director of Naval Intelligence of the Royal Navy and his work for them during the war provided the background for his spy novels. He published his first novel, Casino Royale, in 1953 and introduced secret agent James Bond, also famously known by his code number, 007. Initially, the Bond novels were not bestsellers in the United States, but when President John F. Kennedy included From Russia with Love on his list of favorite books, sales increased dramatically. Fleming wrote 14 books in all with The Living Daylights being the last in 1966.
The financial success of these books allowed Fleming to retire to his estate in Jamaica and he died of a heart attack on August 12, 1964 in Kent, England.
