Trivia

He was awarded the O.B.E. (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) for his services during World War II but was stripped of this title in 1965 when he was exposed as a double agent for the Soviet Union.

Enjoyed reading the spy novels of British author John LeCarre so much that he invited LeCarre to have dinner with him in the Kremlin. LeCarre (a former agent of MI6) replied, "I could never sit at the same table with a traitor to Her Majesty's government.".

Named after the title character of Rudyard Kipling's novel "Kim".

Last words, in reply to a telephoned congratulations on the anniversary of the Soviet victory of 1945: "What victory?"

He was part of what was called "The Cambridge Five" that included, Guy Burgess, Anthony Blunt, John Cairncross and Donald Maclean. Their exploits were reenacted in the miniseries Cambridge Spies (2003).