The IPCRESS File
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The IPCRESS File was the first spy novel by Len Deighton, published in 1962.
It was made into a film in 1965 produced by Harry Saltzman and directed by Sidney J. Furie, starring Michael Caine as Harry Palmer.
The plot involves mind control: the acronym IPCRESS stands for "Induction of Psycho-neuroses by Conditioned Reflex under strESS". The novel also includes scenes in Lebanon and on an atoll for a US atomic bomb test, as well as information about Joe One, although these elements were not in the film version.
[edit] Novel
Deighton's protagonist, as in all sequels, is nameless. He works for some secret agency of the government, but has a great deal of autonomy. He is quite paranoid about his situation. He keeps an "escape package" containing money, a false passport and other documents, circulating in the mail. Once a week he picks up the package from an accommodation address, a seedy London shop, and re-mails it to that address in a fresh envelope.
He is also a gourmet who enjoys good food. Cooking features a lot in both the film and the novel versions this story. Deighton himself is a keen cook.
In common with several of his other early novels, the chapter headings have a "feature". In The IPCRESS File these take the form of each chapter being headed with a quote from a horoscope, which relates to the action in the chapter, though vaguely, as in most horoscopes.
[edit] Film
A film adaptation starring Michael Caine was released in 1965.
