Ambler, Eric

Ambler, Eric, 1909–98, English novelist. An advertising executive, he turned exclusively to writing after his realistic and innovative suspense novels became popular. Ambler has often been called the first thriller writer whose work succeeded as literature. His heroes are usually ordinary men who become accidentally or innocently involved in international intrigues. Several of his novels were made into films, e.g., A Coffin for Dimitrios (1939, film 1944), Journey into Fear (1940, film 1942), and Topkapi (1962, film 1964). Among his other thrillers are Passage of Arms (1959), To Catch a Spy (1964), Doctor Frigo (1974), and The Care of Time (1981). Ambler also wrote screenplays, including those for The Cruel Sea (1953) and The Guns of Navarone (1961).

Bibliography

See his autobiography, Here Lies (1985).

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Ambler, Eric

(born June 28, 1909, London, Eng.—died Oct. 22, 1998, London) British author of espionage and crime novels. Among his works are The Dark Frontier (1936), Epitaph for a Spy (1938), A Coffin for Dimitrios (1939), Journey into Fear (1940; film, 1942), and The Light of Day (1962). In contrast to earlier British spy stories, in which xenophobic, romantic heroes defeated vast conspiracies to dominate the world, Ambler's tales were of ordinary, educated Englishmen thrust by chance or curiosity into danger. Notable for its gritty realism, Ambler's fiction was a major influence on writers such as Graham Greene and John Le Carré.