William Boyd

A new James Bond adventure will be penned by author William Boyd, who wrote the novel Any Human Heart which was adapted for the silver screen.

No details on what will be the title or the plot of new spy novel have been released – except that it will be set in 1969.

A release date in 2013 has been pencilled in, to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the publication of the first Bond novel, Casino Royale.

Boyd will be the latest novelist to take on the versatile British spy – whose licence to kill and way with the ladies have made the stories an international success with generations of readers and movie goers.

Boyd said he was lifelong fan of Ian Fleming’s fantasy creation, and even wrote Fleming into Any Human Heart.

“When the Ian Fleming estate invited me to write the new James Bond novel I didn’t hesitate. I accepted at once,” said Boyd.

“For me the prospect appeared incredibly exciting and stimulating - a once-in-a-lifetime challenge.

“In fact, my father introduced me to the James Bond novels in the 1960s and I read them all then - From Russia With Love being my favourite.”

More than 100m copies of Bond’s adventures have been sold, with Fleming writing 14 novels during his lifetime. Subsequent adventures have written by Sebastian Faulks and Kingsley Amis.