I have just finished reading Chris Moriarty's Spin State and Spin Control, and am now nostalgic for my early Le Carre reading.

The thing is, very few people write novels set in the spy world, primarily about the movements within the spy world as opposed to the broad strokes on the surface that the convolutions of various spies and intelligence agencies create. Thrillers/adventure novels come close, but while we may like Clancy, or in my case, some Forsyth, SPIES are, for them, a good but not innate, inherent, immersive world that drives the novel.

I'm not set on the above opinions - it's been a long time since I've read any Clancy, or Forsyth.

Rec me some good spy books, please? Books that are about spies, and the spying, lying, passionate, cynical, lonely, intricate tapestries they wrap themselves in. Not any of this Kushiel's novel style of novels - I want something Smiley, I want spies who come in from the cold, I want Game, Set, Match, I want Verloc and other people mentioned in the news after 9/11.

Help, please? I need a little healthy neurosis to get me through the day.