Agent Running in the Field

Agent Running in the Field is a 2019 espionage novel by British author John le Carré, the final novel to be published before his 2020 death at the age of 89. Le Carré is widely considered the world’s preeminent English-language writer of spy novels. The novel explores themes such as The Erosion of Institutional Trust, Political Idealism Versus Pragmatic Reality, and The Manipulation of Truth through the story of Nat, a lifetime espionage agent who becomes involved in a complex web of betrayal and secrets when assigned to an intelligence substation in London. 

This guide refers to the Kindle edition.

Content Warning: The source material and guide feature depictions of cursing.

Plot Summary

The first-person narrator of Agent Running in the Field is Nat, a 47-year-old British intelligence officer nearing the end of his career. After returning from an assignment overseas, he expects that the Service will lay him off. Instead, he receives an offer to run Haven, a small London substation assigned to spy on Russia. Around this same time, at his athletic club in Battersea, Nat meets Edward “Ed” Shannon, who challenges him to regular badminton matches since Nat is the club’s badminton champion.