Claim: James Bond is based on a character from a book series.

Ian Lancaster Fleming -LRB- 28 May 1908 -- 12 August 1964 -RRB- was an English author , journalist and naval intelligence officer who is best known for his James Bond series of spy novels . Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co. , and his father was the Member of Parliament for Henley from 1910 until his death on the Western Front in 1917 . Educated at Eton , Sandhurst and , briefly , the universities of Munich and Geneva , Fleming moved through several jobs before he started writing .   While working for Britain 's Naval Intelligence Division during the Second World War , Fleming was involved in planning Operation Goldeneye and in the planning and oversight of two intelligence units , 30 Assault Unit and T-Force . His wartime service and his career as a journalist provided much of the background , detail and depth of the James Bond novels .   Fleming wrote his first Bond novel , Casino Royale , in 1952 . It was a success , with three print runs being commissioned to cope with the demand . Eleven Bond novels and two collections of short-stories followed between 1953 and 1966 . The novels revolved around James Bond , an officer in the Secret Intelligence Service , commonly known as MI6 . Bond was also known by his code number , 007 , and was a commander in the Royal Naval Reserve . The Bond stories rank among the best-selling series of fictional books of all time , having sold over 100 million copies worldwide . Fleming also wrote the children 's story Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang and two works of non-fiction . In 2008 , The Times ranked Fleming 14th on its list of `` The 50 greatest British writers since 1945 '' .   Fleming was married to Ann Charteris , who was divorced from the second Viscount Rothermere owing to her affair with the author . Fleming and Charteris had a son , Caspar . Fleming was a heavy smoker and drinker for most of his life and succumbed to heart disease in 1964 at the age of 56 . Two of his James Bond books were published posthumously ; other writers have since produced Bond novels . Fleming 's creation has appeared in film twenty-six times , portrayed by seven actors .