Frederick Forsyth, the British author popularly known for the best-selling novel ‘The Day of the Jackal’, has died at the age of 86.

Jonathan Lloyd, Forsyth’s agent, announced the news in a statement on Monday, revealing that the acclaimed writer died at his home in the village of Jordans in Buckinghamshire. Lloyd described Forsyth as one of the “world’s greatest thriller writers.”

“We mourn the passing of one of the world’s greatest thriller writers,” Lloyd said of the author who transformed from a debt-ridden journalist into one of the most successful novelists of his generation.

A literary legacy spanning decades

Forsyth authored over 25 literary works during his prolific career, selling more than 75 million books worldwide. His extensive bibliography includes acclaimed titles such as ‘The Odessa File’ (1972), ‘The Dogs of War’ (1974), ‘The Devil’s Alternative’, ‘The Fist of God’, ‘Icon’, ‘The Veteran’, ‘Avenger’, ‘The Afghan’, ‘The Cobra’, and ‘The Kill List’. His 18th novel, ‘The Fox’, was published in 2018.

Publisher Bill Scott-Kerr paid tribute to Forsyth’s enduring impact on the thriller genre: “Still read by millions across the world, Freddie’s thrillers define the genre and are still the benchmark to which contemporary writers aspire. He leaves behind a peerless legacy which will continue to excite and entertain for years to come.”

From desperation to literary success

Forsyth’s path to literary fame began with financial desperation. In his early 30s, he found himself unemployed and deeply in debt. “I was skint, in debt, no flat, no car, no nothing, and I just thought, ‘How do I get myself out of this hole?’ And I came up with probably the zaniest solution – write a novel,” he recalled.

As he noted in his 2015 autobiography, ‘The Outsider: My Life in Intrigue’: “There are several ways of making quick money, but in the general list, writing a novel rates well below robbing a bank.” Despite this scepticism, the gamble paid off spectacularly.

He penned ‘The Day of the Jackal’ in just 35 days in 1971. This compelling narrative, set in 1963 and focusing on an English assassin’s mission to kill French President Charles de Gaulle, met immediate success upon publication. The novel was later adapted into a film and even influenced real-world events, leading to Venezuelan revolutionary Illich Ramirez Sanchez being nicknamed Carlos the Jackal. Most recently, the story was remade into a television series in November 2024, starring Eddie Redmayne and Lashana Lynch.

A life of adventure and espionage

Forsyth’s novels drew heavily on his extraordinary real-life experiences. He began his career as an RAF pilot before his linguistic talents – he spoke French, German, Spanish, and Russian – led him to the Reuters news agency in 1961, with postings in Paris and East Berlin during the Cold War. He later worked as a war correspondent for both Reuters and the BBC.

In 2015, Forsyth revealed a remarkable secret: he had worked for the British intelligence agency MI6 for over two decades. His autobiography detailed how he was recruited by “Ronnie” from MI6 in 1968, who wanted “an asset deep inside the Biafran enclave” in Nigeria during the civil war. One notable mission occurred in 1973 when he was asked to conduct an operation in communist East Germany, driving his Triumph convertible to Dresden to receive a package from a Russian colonel in the toilets of the Albertinum museum.

Forsyth claimed he was never paid by MI6 but received help with his book research in return, and submitted draft pages to ensure he wasn’t divulging sensitive information. This unique background provided authentic detail and credibility to his fictional plots.

Personal life and later years

Forsyth left the BBC after becoming disillusioned with its bureaucracy and what he perceived as the corporation’s inadequate coverage of Nigeria due to postcolonial governmental views on Africa. In his later years, he turned his attention to politics, delivering right-wing commentary in columns for the anti-European Union Daily Express.

His personal life included both triumph and setback. Divorced from his first wife, Carole Cunningham, in 1988, he married Sandy Molloy in 1994. He had two sons, Stuart and Shane, with his first wife. Financial challenges persisted even after his initial success – he lost a fortune in an investment scam during the 1980s and had to continue writing novels to support himself. (BusinessDay)

•Frederick Forsyth