Thank heaven, though, one of the few mistakes I haven't made is to talk about the unwritten book.

I mean, you can't be less ruthless than the opposition simply because your government's policy is benevolent, can you now?

It's death, that's what I'm suffering from. The systematic encroachment of the big D.

It's part of a writer's profession, as it's part of a spy's profession, to prey on the community to which he's attached, to take away information - often in secret - and to translate that into intelligence for his masters, whether it's his readership or his spy masters. And I think that both professions are perhaps rather lonely.

We have learned in recent years to translate almost all of political life in terms of conspiracy. And the spy novel, as never before, really, has come into its own.

The pharmaceutical corporations are engaged in the systematic corruption of the medical profession, country by country

The only reward for love is the experience of loving.