Context:

Described as 'the Le Carré novel' and 'the ultimate 1974 novel' published in summer 1974, featuring themes of moles and espionage that reflected the paranoid atmosphere of the time

Context:

Referenced when discussing Bill Hayden, the Labour leader replaced by Bob Hawke. The hosts note that 'Bill Hayden' is also the name of a character in le Carré's spy novel.

Context:

Referenced when discussing the character of George Smiley, described as 'the shabby man in the mack, trudging from library to library in the pouring rain' - compared to the life of a historian

Context:

Mentioned as being 'kind of inspired by' Graham Greene's Our Man in Havana, both dealing with themes of spies selling fiction to their superiors

Context:

Mentioned as 'John Le Carre's take on it later on' referring to the same plot device as Our Man in Havana where an agent invents a conspiracy