Goldfinger (novel) Goldfinger (novel) Goldfinger is the seventh novel in Ian Fleming's James Bond series, first published in the UK by Jonathan Cape on 23 March 1959. "Goldfinger" originally bore the title "The Richest Man in the World" and was written in January and February 1958. The story centres on the investigation by MI6 operative James Bond into the gold smuggling activities of Auric Goldfinger, who is also suspected by MI6 of being connected to SMERSH, the Soviet counter-intelligence organisation. As well as establishing the background to the smuggling operation, Bond uncovers a much larger plot, with Goldfinger planning to steal the
Goldfinger (film) though trying to balance action and comedy. "Goldfinger" has been described as perhaps "the most highly and consistently praised Bond picture of them all" and after "Goldfinger", Bond "became a true phenomenon." The success of the film led to the emergence of many other works in the espionage genre and parodies of James Bond, such as The Beatles film "Help!" in 1965 and a spoof of Ian Fleming's first Bond novel, "Casino Royale", in 1967. Indeed, it has been said that "Goldfinger" was the cause of the boom in espionage films in the 1960s, so much so that in "1966,