Spy author Charles Cumming discusses his new title 'A Foreign Country'

On differences in spy literature: I find a difference in British spy fiction and American spy fiction. In the American version, it’s more militaristic, partly because the CIA has more of the military makeup. Whereas MI6 is more of a cerebral, intelligence-based, relationship-based service, i.e., all they do is recruit people to get information out of them. It’s always been far more interesting to me to study character and behavior than it has to have car bombs or nuclear devices going off.

People feel closer to the personality. I can imagine having a cup of coffee with [le Carré’s] George Smiley, I can imagine sitting down to dinner with [Philip Kerr’s World War II-era German detective] Bernie Gunther. They’re not Jack Bauer, they’re not James Bond, they’re not cartoon superheroes. The trick is to then to make those people remarkable in some way, to show that they do have resourcefulness or quick-wittedness to work people out.

On how he became a thriller writer: Well, I was approached for a job by MI6 when I was about 25, so, 15 years ago. I didn’t get the job. But I had a short recruitment experience that gave me enough material to write my first book, which was called “A Spy by Nature," which was a semi-autobiographical account of what happened to me in my youth. And then I just stuck with it. Writing’s always been a thing I was good at. I enjoy writing. And I was hopeless with numbers [laughs].

On researching his books: I try to do less and less because I think you can get a bit research-heavy. I did a book called “Typhoon” that was set in China. It was incredibly hard to write because I didn’t know China well. It was very complicated and culturally complex. It took a lot of readings and a lot of journeys to China and talking to people and then if you’ve done all that work, you want to put it all into the novel. The narrative can suffer as a result. I’m trying with the Kell books – there is another one coming – to really just concentrate on character and story. And then if people learn something about the Arab Spring or Witness B, that’s a bonus.

On what’s next: I like Kell a lot. I feel comfortable around him. He’s an interesting man. I’m going to write at least three books about him. The reaction over here and the advance reaction in the States has been amazing and people seem to enjoy “A Foreign Country.” They haven’t necessarily been taken with previous characters who have been more like anti-heroes. There’s that fine line between creating a realistic person, but also somebody who is a hero, somebody who people want to get behind and support.

Check out a clip of the audio book here:

Erik Spanberg is a Monitor contributor.

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