The IPCRESS File

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The IPCRESS File was the first spy novel by Len Deighton, published in 1962.

It was made into a film in 1965 produced by Harry Saltzman and directed by Sidney J. Furie, starring Michael Caine as the protagonist.

The plot involves mind control: the acronym IPCRESS stands for "Induction of Psycho-neuroses by Conditioned Reflex under strESS". The novel also includes scenes in Lebanon and on an atoll for a US atomic bomb test, as well as information about Joe One, although these elements were not in the film version.

[edit] Novel

Deighton's protagonist, as in all sequels, is nameless. He works for some secret agency of the government, but has a great deal of autonomy. He is quite paranoid about his situation. He keeps an "escape package" containing money, a false passport and other documents, circulating in the mail. Once a week he picks up the package from an accommodation address, a seedy London shop, and re-mails it to that address in a fresh envelope.

He is also a gourmet who enjoys good food. Cooking features a lot in both the film and the novel; Deighton himself being an accomplished cook.

In common with several of his other early novels, the chapter headings have a "feature". In The IPCRESS File these take the form of each chapter being headed with a quote from a horoscope, which relates to the action in the chapter, though vaguely, as in most horoscopes.

[edit] Film

Main article: The Ipcress File (film)

A film adaptation starring Michael Caine was released in 1965 and produced by the James Bond co-producer Harry Saltzman, assisted by several prominent members of the Bond production family. The film medium made it difficult to maintain the anonymity of Deighton's hero, who acquired the name Harry Palmer.

v • d • e Works by Len Deighton "Unnamed hero" novels: The IPCRESS File (1962) · Horse Under Water (1963) · Funeral in Berlin (1964) · Billion-Dollar Brain (1966) · An Expensive Place to Die (1967) · Spy Story (1972) · Yesterday's Spy (1975) · Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Spy (1976) Bernard Samson novels: Berlin Game (1983) · Mexico Set (1984) · London Match (1985) · Winter (1987) · Spy Hook (1988) · Spy Line (1989) · Spy Sinker (1990) · Faith (1994) · Hope (1995) · Charity (1996) Other novels: Only When I Larf (1968) · Bomber (1970) · Close-Up (1972) · SS-GB (1978) · XPD (1981) · Goodbye, Mickey Mouse (1982) · MAMista (1991) · City of Gold (1992) · Violent Ward, (1993) Short story collections: Declarations of War (1971) · The Verdict of Us (2006) Non-fiction: Où Est le Garlic (1965) · Len Deighton's Action Cookbook (1965) · Len Deighton's London Dossier (1967) · Fighter: The True Story of the Battle of Britain (1977) · Airshipwreck (1978) · Blitzkrieg: From the Rise of Hitler to the Fall of Dunkirk (1979) · Battle of Britain (1980) · Blood, Tears and Folly: An Objective Look at World War II (1993)