To date there have been 48 Bond novels published. Over 100 million Bond books have been sold (and over half the world's population has seen a Bond film!)
Ian Fleming , of course, created the character and wrote 14 James Bond books: Casino Royale (1953); Live and Let Die (1954); Moonraker (1955); Diamonds Are Forever (1956); From Russia with Love (1957); Dr. No (1958); Goldfinger (1959); For your Eyes Only (1960); Thunderball (1961); The Spy Who Loved Me (1962 ); On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1963); You Only Live Twice (1964); The Man With The Golden Gun (1965) and Octopussy and the Living Daylights (1966).
Fleming's other works include the children's favourite, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1964), which was made into a film and stage musical, The Diamond Smugglers (1957) and a collection of travel writings called Thrilling Cities (1963).
Following Fleming's death in 1964 the publishers of the James Bond novels planned a new book series, credited to the pseudonym Robert Markham and written by a rotating series of authors. After James Leasor declined an offer to write the first continuation novel the copyright holders commissioned Kingsley Amis. Using the Robert Markham pseudonym, Amis published only 1 Bond novel, 1968's Colonel Sun.
In the 1980s, the series was finally revived with new novels by John Gardner. Between 1981 and 1996, he wrote 14 James Bond novels and two screenplay novelisations, surpassing Fleming's original output. The biggest change in Gardner's series was updating 007's world to the 1980s; however, it would keep the characters the same age as they were in Fleming's novels. Generally Gardner's series is considered a success although their canonical status is disputed.
In 1996, Gardner retired from writing James Bond books due to ill health and American Raymond Benson quickly replaced him. As a James Bond novelist, Benson was initially controversial for being American, and for ignoring much of the continuity established by Gardner. Benson wrote 6 James Bond novels, three novelisations, and three short stories.
Ian Fleming Publications announced that a new James Bond novel would be published in May 2008 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Ian Fleming's birth. Initially, IFP kept the identity of the author secret, but in July 2007 it was announced that the centenary novel would be Devil May Care by Sebastian Faulks. It was published on 28 May 2008, on what would have been Ian Fleming's 100th birthday. Faulks contributed this 1 novel to the collection.
In 2010, Ian Fleming Publications Ltd chose international bestselling thriller writer, Jeffery Deaver, to write a new James Bond book. He wrote 1 book , entitled Carte Blanche , which was published on May 28, 2011.
William Boyd released his first James Bond book , SOLO , in 2013.
Anthony Horowitz will write the next BOND novel , Murder on Wheels , which will be the first novel to be adapted from an original Ian Fleming treatment since his death.
