Agent Working within the Subject: A Novel

An ageless author keeps the good stuff coming
An enjoyable read from John Le Carré, and unlike his last novel, one that can be read without any knowledge of his prior work.
Nat, a veteran agent runner, approaching middle age and the end of the his days of spying in Eastern Europe, is given a dubious assignment in London where a couple of different actions — a proposal to bug the apartment of a Russian oligarch and an effort to turn a Russian sleeper agent – give Nat much to chew one while he tries to figure out how to stay married to a woman he has long lived apartment from, reconnect with an estranged daughter, and maintain his badminton club champion status against a young and ardent challenger.
Nat, though new with this book, is a familiar character in Le Carré’s fiction. He is an imperfect man who is dedicated to tradecraft and dedicated to maintaining a moral focus in the world of espionage, a world where ethics have become decidedly more murky since the Cold War days of George Smiley. Nat is an excellent and sympathetic Le Carré protagonist. I felt for his struggles and I was genuinely concerned for what outcome he would reach, because having read all of Le Carré’s work, I know that a Le Carré hero is not assured a happy ending.
Anyone familiar with Le Carré’s writing knows that he is not an admirer of the United States and his view has darkened substantially in response the War on Terror. His attitude towards Donald Trump should come as no surprise. The book presents several characters who strongly criticize Brexit and Donald Trump. However, characters are equally negative in their assessment of Putin and, especially, the Trump/Putin relationship.
Trigger Warning: Any reader who will be emotionally upset by reading dialogue that includes criticism of Donald Trump should avoid this book. The rest of us can watch characters who subscribe to traditional liberal Democratic values struggle to remain ethical in their espionage while working for countries whose goals are being set by those who disagree with liberal democratic values.
And if you are able to weather that trigger warning, there are great pleasures within: the scene where Nat comes clean to his college age daughter about his profession, a quick jaunt to Czechoslovakia to visit a Russian double agent turned oligarch which provides an emotionally devastating reminder of what doth it avail a man to gain a fortune and lose his soul, and a hugely detailed description of a sleeper agent/handler meeting and all the tradecraft involved both in the meeting and in surveilling it.
Nearly sixty years ago, John Le Carré started to describe the world of espionage from the standpoint of the human and moral toll that participation in this world of secrecy and treachery takes from its people, and to provide a counterweight to the blithe world of violence, sex and high living portrayed in Ian Flemings’ James Bond books. “Agent Running in the Field” continues Le Carré’s canon. In this espionage world, agents worry about exceeding their expense account limits and have long careers in which they have killed no one. For anyone who has enjoyed the pleasures of Le Carré’s world, this is a fine new addition. For anyone new to his work, this gives you a contemporary starting point (Brexit) before you go back to the Cold War of the early books. I am glad to have this addition to LeCarré’s canon.

More of a deep character study and exploration of a single event than a spy thriller
LeCarre writes introspective novels, heavily focused on the interior thoughts, experiences and motives of his main character. This is the case with Agent Running in the Field. The book features Nat, a spy handler who is coming to the end of his career. The book puts his age at 47 although the character acts and feels more like 67.
The book is more of an exploration of anyone who is at the latter 5/6ths of their career. They can see the end closing in, they feel that they have more to contribute and at that same time not sure if they want to make that contribution. This is the type of ambivalence that Le Carre explores. It is also a reason why this book will leave many younger people scratching their head — in other words — you need some life experience to understand and appreciate what is going on fully in this book.
Eminently enjoyable as a well written and deeper character study. La Carre leaves the read to do much of the work, which is welcome in an age when everything is spelled and yelled out. His classic subtlety is there and while the book seeks to capture the Brexit/Trump era, it remains more of a study of a man just like most of his other books.
Fans of Le Carre will not be disappointed, this is a similar type of book to the others he has written over the last 10 – 15 years. This reflects much of the way the world is working, gone are the grand designs of superpowers and their spy organizations to be replaced with increasingly small and often petty personal concerns. This book is recommended as a strong addition to this line of work.

I Like John Le Caree

So sad that this must necessarily be M. Le Carré’s last book. This one lived up to expectations – subtle, intelligent, fantastic sense of humour and recognition of the tragedies of our modern times. Who knows what he would have made of future global developments and his protagonist’s role as mole or agent runner? Thank you, JLC, for the pleasure you have brought to so many through your inimitable books. RIP