Robert Littell (born January 8, 1935) is an American novelist and former journalist who resides in France. Video Interview with Robert Littell via France 24. He specialises in spy novels that often concern the CIA and the Soviet Union.
Robert Littell was born in Brooklyn, New York on January 8, 1935, to a Jewish family, of Russian Jewish origin.Littell, Robert. "A legend in his own time." Interview by Ali Karim. January Magazine, n.d. Retrieved 7 August 2014. He is a 1956 graduate of Alfred University in western New York. He spent four years in the U.S. Navy and served at times as his ship's navigator, antisubmarine warfare officer, communications officer, and deck watch officer.
Later Littell became a journalist and worked many years for Newsweek during the Cold War. He was a foreign correspondent for the magazine from 1965 to 1970.
Littell is an amateur mountain climber and is the father of award-winning novelist Jonathan Littell and painter Jesse Littell. His brother, Alan Littell (1929–2024), was also an author and journalist.
He is the brother-in-law of the French writer Bernard du Boucheron (1928–2024).Corty, Bruno. À la rencontre de l'autre Littell, Le Figaro, 21 March 2009.
Bibliography
Novels The Defection of A. J. Lewinter (1973)Review by Christopher Lehmann-Haupt. "Games Super Powers Play" The New York Times, February 15, 1973. Sweet Reason (1974) The October Circle (1975)
The Debriefing (1979)
The Revolutionist (1988) The Once and Future Spy (1990) An Agent in Place (1991) The Visiting Professor (1994) Walking Back the Cat (1997) The Company (2002) Legends (2005) Vicious Circle (2006)
Young Philby (2012) A Nasty Piece of Work (2013) The Mayakovsky Tapes (2016)
A Plague on Both Your Houses: A Novel in the Shadow of the Russian Mafia (2024) Bronshtein in the Bronx (2025)
Semi-fiction If Israel Lost the War (alternate history) (with Richard Z. Chesnoff and Edward Klein) (1969)
Non-fiction For the Future of Israel (with Shimon Peres) (1998) The Czech Black Book (editor) (1969) Discussed by Littell in "A legend in his own time" Interview by Ali Karim. January Magazine.
Films and Television The Amateur (1981 film) The Company (miniseries) Legends (TV series) The Amateur (2025 film)
Awards The Defection of A. J. Lewinter. 1973 British Crime Writers' Association's Gold Dagger Award for fiction. Legends. 2005 Los Angeles Times Book Prize in the Mystery/Thriller category.
References
External links
All Things Considered review of several books including Legends.
January Magazine interview Feature: "On Writing Young Philby" in Shots Ezine November 2012