The much-acclaimed writer, born David Cornwell, died on Saturday evening in Cornwall, after a short battle with pneumonia, and was not related to Covid-19.

His family said in a statement: ‘It is with great sadness that we must confirm that David Cornwell – John le Carré – passed away from pneumonia last Saturday night after a short battle with the illness.

‘David is survived by his beloved wife of almost fifty years, Jane, and his sons Nicholas, Timothy, Stephen and Simon. We all grieve deeply his passing.

‘Our thanks go to the wonderful NHS team at the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro for the care and compassion that he was shown throughout his stay. We know they share our sadness.’

His family and literary agent Jonny Geller also shared his thoughts on losing the writer, and said: ‘For six decades, John le Carré dominated the bestseller lists and review pages with his monumental body of work.

‘His dramatic launch onto the global scene began with the publication of his third novel in 1963, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, and the public revelation of his secret life working with the British Intelligence Services.’

‘With the fall of the Berlin Wall, David’s focus extended beyond the Soviet/UK/US relations to arms dealing with The Night Manager. 

‘The first decade of the new millennium brought us The Constant Gardener, a passionate critique of Big Pharma and this current decade brought back his favourite creation, George Smiley, in A Legacy of Spies.

‘His last novel, Agent Running in the Field, was published in October 2019.David wrote twenty-five novels and one volume of memoir, The Pigeon Tunnel (2016), and has sold more than sixty million copies of his work worldwide.