Ian Lancaster Fleming was an English writer, best known for his postwar 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 (MP) for Henley until his death on the Western Front in 1917.

Educated at Eton, Sandhurst, and briefly at 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 oversaw intelligence units like 30 Assault Unit and T-Force. His wartime service and career as a journalist influenced his James Bond novels.

Fleming wrote his first Bond novel, Casino Royale, in 1952, at age 44. It was a success, leading to multiple print runs. Eleven Bond novels and two collections of short stories were published between 1953 and 1966. The novels focus on James Bond, an officer in the Secret Intelligence Service, known by code number 007. The Bond series ranks among the best-selling fictional book series, having sold over 100 million copies worldwide.

Besides Bond novels, Fleming wrote the children's story Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang in 1964 and two non-fiction works. In 2008, The Times ranked Fleming 14th on its list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945".

Fleming was married to Anne Charteris, with whom he had a son, Caspar. Due to heavy smoking and drinking, he succumbed to heart disease at the age of 56. Two of his James Bond books were published posthumously and other writers have continued the Bond legacy. Fleming's creation has appeared in films twenty-seven times, portrayed by six actors in the official series.