Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy author John Le Carré dies in Royal Cornwall Hospital aged 89
Watch Grace Pascoe's report
Spy novelist John le Carré has died in Cornwall at the age of 89.
The espionage author was being treated for pneumonia at the Royal Cornwall Hospital when he died on Saturday 12 December, his family said in a statement.
Among his 25 novels were best-sellers including Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Night Manager and The Spy Who Came In From The Cold.
Le Carré, whose real name was David Cornwell, was partly inspired by his own experiences while working for the British intelligence services during the Cold War. However he once said he was irritated at the extent to which his fiction was portrayed as real-life spying.
In a statement Cornwell's literary agent Jonny Geller said: "His like will never be seen again, and his loss will be felt by every book lover, everyone interested in the human condition.
"We have lost a great figure of English literature, a man of great wit, kindness, humour and intelligence.
"I have lost a friend, a mentor and an inspiration."
A statement shared by his family said: "It is with great sadness that we must confirm that David Cornwell - John le Carré - passed away from pneumonia last Saturday night after a short battle with the illness.
"David is survived by his beloved wife of almost 50 years, Jane, and his sons Nicholas, Timothy, Stephen and Simon.
"We all grieve deeply his passing. Our thanks go to the wonderful NHS team at the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro for the care and compassion that he was shown throughout his stay. We know they share our sadness."
Born in 1931, the novelist is probably most well known for documenting the fictional career of intelligence officer, George Smiley.
The character was later made even more famous in the TV series Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
He grabbed worldwide attention when he published The Spy Who Came In From The Cold in 1963, after which he left the intelligence services and started writing full time.
Writing in the Guardian in 2013, Cornwell remembered it making the best-seller list with "a kind of frozen awe" followed by "a kind of impotent anger".
He wrote: "Anger, because from the day my novel was published, I realised that now and forever more I was to be branded as the spy turned writer, rather than as a writer who, like scores of his kind, had done a stint in the secret world, and written about it."
The author, who turned down several literary honours and a knighthood, lived in Cornwall for more than 40 years.
Along with his wife Valérie Jane Eustace, he owned a house on the edge of the cliffs at St Buryan. Speaking to Cornwall Live in 2010, Cornwell said he moved to the county for the tranquility it provided.
The actor Gary Oldman, who starred in the 2011 film version of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, is one of many famous names to pay tribute to the writer.
He described Cornwell as a "very great author" and "a true gentleman".
Margaret Atwood tweeted that his Smiley novels were the "key to understanding the mid-20th century" and Stephen Fry said "if there is a contemporary writer who's given me richer pleasure I can't for the moment name them..."
Quiz show host Richard Osman added that he was "the finest, wisest storyteller we had".
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