The Honourable Schoolboy is the second volume of a trilogy John le Carré has written tracing the postmodern history of the British Secret Service. George Smiley, a minor character in The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1963), became the Western world’s most famous and believable spy in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (1974). The Honourable Schoolboy seems to end his career, but Smiley’s People (1980) gives him one more chance to win against his rival, Karla, of the Russian KGB.

The first and third books in the trilogy form a pair: Both center on the Circus, on England, on Smiley’s quest for Karla. These elements are significant in The Honourable Schoolboy as well, but this middle book offers a different perspective. The canvas is wider; much of the action takes place in Asia, and it is not so narrowly restricted to the shadow world of espionage. The title character is not Smiley but rather Jerry Westerby. Thus, The Honourable Schoolboy anticipates le Carré’s attempt in The Little Drummer Girl (1983) to work in an entirely different milieu.