Biography

Author of 21 books, including "Epitaph for a Spy" (1938), "The Mask of Dimitrios" (1939), "Journey into Fear" (1940) and "The Schirmer Inheritance" (1953).

British author of espionage thrillers, often set in unglamorous locations and featuring anti-heroes. His work served as inspiration for later specialists in the genre, notably Len Deighton and John le Carré.

After working at a number of different jobs from his mid-teens, he published his first novel in 1936 and had an immediate and very considerable success with it, both critically and financially. Between 1936 and 1940, he published six novels in total, each one a best-seller, winning him an international audience. By the end of World War II, four of these six books had been filmed, three of them in Hollywood. However, after this prolific beginning, Ambler published nothing at all between 1940 and 1951. His wartime army service led him into making propaganda films, and he remained in the film world for some time after the war, producing as well as writing films. It is notable that a majority of these films do not fall into the suspense or espionage genres in which he had made his name.

His best-known novels are "Epitaph for a Spy," "The Mask of Dimitrios," "Uncommon Danger" and "Journey into Fear.".

Was viewed as a major influence on the spy novel genre.

International business may conduct its operations with scraps of paper, but the ink it uses is human blood.