NEWS

Posted on 2 December, 2025

Welcome to our very first James Bond Book Club selection, The Lifeline. This month we’re shining a spotlight on a classic thriller first published in 1946 by Faber. It’s an essential read if you’re a fan of Ian Fleming’s work or love a smart, original, fast-paced spy story.

Republished by Muswell Press in 2024, with an intro from Miles Jupp and David Stenhouse, The Lifeline is the work of English writer Phyllis Bottome. Bottome mentored Ian Fleming in the 1930s and the book is often discussed as a key influence on Fleming’s own spy fiction.

OVERVIEW

The story takes place in Austria in 1938, as Nazism tightens its grip on Europe. Our protagonist, Mark Chalmers, is a teacher at Eton and leads a comfortable and detached life. He adores Austria, where he spends his holidays, but prefers to stay out of the world’s increasing turmoil. Everything shifts when an old friend from the Foreign Office introduces him to the enigmatic “B,” and recruits him for a dangerous mission. Reluctantly, he agrees to parachute into Nazi-occupied Austria to deliver vital intelligence to a British agent, armed only with his orders and, in case of capture, a suicide pill.

Chalmers plans to do the one job then walk away, but once he reaches his destination he’s drawn into the fight against fascism and there is no turning back. Seeing a country he loves under tyranny awakens something in him and what starts as a gripping adventure story becomes a rich, thoughtful study of the psychology of a spy.

WHY WE CHOSE IT

We’ve picked The Lifeline as the first James Bond Book Club recommendation not only because of its exploration of espionage but also because of its connection to Ian Fleming. Phyllis Bottome and her husband, Major Alban Ernan Forbes Dennis (himself a spy), ran a school for languages in Kitzbühelm Austria in the 1920s. Following his shortened stints at Eton and Sandhurst, Ian was sent there to study. By his own account, it was a happy period, spent skiing, mountain climbing, and learning languages, during which he also formed a close bond with Phyllis and her husband. She encouraged Ian to write and he produced his first known short stories here, followed in 1928 by his now-lost book of poetry The Black Daffodil.  

Chalmers, The Lifeline‘s protagonist goes on a moral journey and hints at the kind of hero Fleming would later create. Scholars often point to The Lifeline as a spiritual precursor to James Bond, exploring moral complexity and the post-war psyche from a more humanistic angle. It’s thought to have deeply influenced Fleming’s vision of duty, danger, and decency… the DNA of Bond himself.

THEMES TO CONSIDER

– Resistance and morality. Bottome examines how individuals act under oppressive regimes and what it means to live with integrity in dark times.

– Education and empathy. The novel questions education as a means of building character and combating hate. Can empathy be taught?

– Courage in everyday life. Rather than glorifying espionage or violence, The Lifeline celebrates quiet, human bravery, something that contrasts with the more glamorous heroism found in Fleming’s later Bond novels, yet hints at the moral depth Bond would inherit.

REVIEWS

The Financial Times, Best New Thrillers – ‘A cracking read. Top marks to Muswell Press for bringing this book back’

The Times – ‘The real thing…a well-wrought period piece that Fleming completists will enjoy’

Crime Time – ‘Fascinating. A major inspiration for Ian Fleming’s James Bond. A jolly good read.’

The Sunday Post – ‘A thriller of a highly diverting and original kind’ 

The Time Literary Supplement – ‘A gifted and entertaining novelist’

Starting in 1916, Phyllis Bottome wrote over 30 novels and a series of short stories and novellas, including the anti-Nazi best-seller, The Mortal Storm, based on her experiences of living in Germany. Four of her books have been turned into films, including The Mortal Storm, which became a Hollywood blockbuster starring James Stewart. Her work is currently enjoying a much deserved revival and we are delighted that our friends at Muswell Press are bringing The Lifeline to a new audience. Muswell Press is a small British independent publishing house, owned and run by sisters Kate and Sarah Beal, focused on crime, contemporary fiction, biography and LGBTQ stories.

We hope you enjoy exploring our first James Bond Book Club pick. Follow our social channels for more on the book, and get your copy of The Lifeline at the Ian Fleming Shop here.

For more insights into Ian Fleming’s personal life and history, read Talk of the Devil, an anthology featuring his non-fiction, reviews, letters and two short stories. Available as a hardback, eBook and audiobook.