James Wolff was a spy. Now, he's writing about them

About this episode

James Wolff, a former British intelligence officer, discusses his transition to writing fiction about spies.

There’s keeping a low profile and then there’s author James Wolff. Not his real name. It's a pseudonym. James Wolff had a career as a British intelligence officer. Now, he writes about them. His latest espionage novel is called Spies and Other Gods and it's chock full of spies, people pretending to be spies, secret operations and deceit. Host Mary Louise Kelly spoke with James Wolff about writing fiction as an ex-spy and when the truth can be stranger — and more tangled — than fiction. Email the show at sourcesandmethods@npr.org NPR+ supporters hear every episode without sponsor messages and unlock access to our complete archive. Sign up at plus.npr.org . See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy

People in this episode

Host: Mary Louise Kelly

Guest: James Wolff

Topics covered

• espionage
• fiction writing
• intelligence
• deceit
• spy novels

Keywords

• spy
• intelligence officer
• espionage novel
• fiction
• deceit

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: NPR

Books & works: Spies and Other Gods

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