JAMES BOND will feature in a new novel, 40 years after Ian Fleming’s last portrayal of the British superspy, as the result of a deal between his creator’s estate and an unnamed author.

Ian Fleming Publications announced yesterday that it had commissioned a “well-known and highly respected” author to take up the Bond story where Fleming left off when he died in 1964.

Fleming’s final James Bond adventures were The Man with the Golden Gun, which was published posthumously in 1965, and the short stories Octopussy and The Living Daylights, published in 1966.

Fleming’s nieces, Kate and Lucy, revived Bond books last year when they commissioned Charlie Higson to write Silverfin, a portrayal of the spy as a teenager.

They took control of the estate of their uncle in 1997, some 33 years after it was sold to the Booker group. The writer’s identity is being kept a close secret until publication in 2008, but possible candidates include Frederick Forsyth, John le Carré and Anthony Horowitz, author of the teenage spy novel Stormbreaker.

Corinne Turner, of Ian Fleming Publications, said that the company had been hoping to employ the author in question for some time.

“He is the perfect writer for this project and we are greatly looking forward to his take on James Bond in what we are convinced will be a stunning novel,” she said.

Fourteen books by Fleming about the suave secret agent were published, beginning with Casino Royale in 1953.

He produced one Bond novel almost every year until his death in 1964. All have been made into blockbuster films.

The new author will not be the first attempt to revive the series. Kingsley Amis, under the pseudonym Robert Markham, recreated Bond for his novel Colonel Sun. Last year Samantha Weinberg, using the name Kate Westbrook, created The Moneypenny Diaries, the first of a trilogy that charts the adventures of MI6’s famous secretary.

Christopher Brookmyre reimagined James Bond as Jane Fleming, a bored housewife in All Fun and Games Until Somebody Loses an Eye.

In a separate development, Daniel Craig confirmed that he would portray Bond in a second film after his debut in Casino Royale, which will be released in November.

Michael Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, producers of the Bond film franchise, said that they wanted Craig to continue with his more raw version of the character.

“Daniel has taken the origins of Ian Fleming’s James Bond — portraying, with emotional complexity, a darker and edgier 007,” they said.

The next film after Casino Royale is scheduled to be ready for 2008, Fleming’s centenary.

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