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Call for the Dead

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Call for the Dead

By: John le Carré
Narrated by: Simon Russell Beale
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

THE FIRST GEORGE SMILEY NOVEL

After a routine security check by George Smiley, civil servant Samuel Fennan apparently kills himself. When Smiley finds Circus head Maston is trying to blame him for the death, he begins his own investigation, meeting Fennan's widow to find out what led him to such desperation. On the very day Smiley is ordered off the enquiry he receives an urgent letter from the dead man. Do the East Germans - and their agents - know more about this man's death than the Circus previously imagined?

Le Carré's first book, Call for the Dead, introduced the tenacious and retiring spy George Smiley in a gripping tale of espionage and deceit.

'Intelligent, thrilling, surprising . . . makes most cloak-and-dagger stuff taste of cardboard' Sunday Telegraph

'Brilliant. Realistic. Constant suspense' Observer

'The greatest spy novelist of all time' Jake Kerridge, Daily Telegraph

©le Carré Productions 1961 (P)Penguin Audio 2024

 Amateur Sleuths Classics Espionage Mystery Spies & Politics Suspense Thriller & Suspense Exciting

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Critic reviews

'Brilliant, popular, intelligent, thrilling, suspenseful, angry, original, masterful writing. Can't be topped.' (Armando Iannucci)

'An extraordinary writer who brought literary lustre and lived insight to the spy yarn.' (Ian Rankin)

'His Smiley novels are key to understanding the mid-20th century.' (Margaret Atwood)
All stars
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I’ve been aware of Le Carre but never actually read any of his work so I’ve been very pleasantly surprised. I expected to enjoy the subject matter but didn’t anticipate the quality of rich narrative and insightful social commentary.

Late to the party

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Le Carre is the very best at his trade. Brilliantly descriptive characters within ingenious plot

Brilliantly descriptive characters within ingenious plot

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A great book which whipped along nicely. A great start to the John Le Carre books.

Narration, plot, story

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Liked the pace and twists of the plot, the clever descriptions of ordinary scenes, mentioning the barely perceptible details of everyday life.

Clever plot, engaging and fantastically creative descriptions

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enjoyed the air of Weltschmerz which suffuses the story and the character of Smiley plus the post war gloom.

Simon Russell Beale's narration

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Clean and concise, without any sacrifice to depth. Beale is excellent as ever. While Guinness will always be my George, Beale is a worthy, if a tad too sharp continuer. So I am content.

Well written.

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This is a typically intriguing and atmospheric tale.
Simon Russell Beale reads this very well but without conjuring images of Alec Guiness as Michael Jayston does in the more famous books. I enjoyed the portrait of post war Britain, the detailed descriptions and complex motivations. Wonderful stuff.

An early le Carré that I had overlooked

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This book is the first in the 'Smiley' series and although not as heavyweight as the later 'Karla trilogy', a good story nonetheless. The issue is that the narration of this story, though passable, is significantly inferior to the Michael Jayston recordings of Le Carre's books. Audible appears to have removed most of those - the books having been (or in the process of being) re-released with new narrators. It is a shame because none of them come close to Jayston IMO. I am fortunate enough to have purchased most of those recordings when they were available, but this was not one of them, Beale does not have the same gravitas, and for the most part I found it difficult to differentiate between characters, since he makes them all sound the same.

Inferior narration

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