William Boyd (writer) Littérature Européenne and was longlisted for the Booker Prize in 2002. "Restless", the tale of a young woman who discovers that her mother had been recruited as a spy during World War II, was published in 2006 and won the Novel of the Year award in the 2006 Costa Book Awards. Boyd's novel "Waiting for Sunrise: A Novel" was published in early 2012. Following "Solo" in 2013 he published "Sweet Caress" in 2015, the fourth novel he has written from a woman's viewpoint. On 11 April 2012 Ian Fleming's estate announced that Boyd would write the next James Bond novel.
Solo (Boyd novel) Ian Fleming. He told reporters that he was interested in Bond as a human being. "Bond is not just a superhero. He has flaws, he has weaknesses, he makes mistakes. ... That was Fleming's genius." The novel is set in 1969 when Bond is 45; Boyd intentionally picked the year, further adding that "there are no gimmicks, it's a real spy story." Boyd criticised how the filmmakers have portrayed Bond onscreen as a "cartoon character"; he also believes that Bond should be "troubled and a massive boozer." The novel reflects Boyd's view, where Bond "drinks enough to float a boat.