Former MI6 agent and author Frederick Forsyth, who wrote The Day of The Jackal, has died at the age of 86.
His literary agents Curtis Brown confirmed he died after a brief illness.
Jonathan Lloyd said in a statement: "We mourn the passing of one of the world's greatest thriller writers."
He added: "After serving as one of the youngest ever RAF pilots, he turned to journalism, using his gift for languages in German, French and Russian to become a foreign correspondent in Biafra.
Forsyth published more than 25 books, including The Odessa File and The Dogs of War, and sold 75 million books around the world
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"Appalled at what he saw and using his experience during a stint as a secret service agent, he wrote his first and perhaps most famous novel, The Day Of The Jackal, and instantly became a global best-selling author."
Forsyth published more than 25 books, including The Odessa File and The Dogs of War, and sold 75 million books around the world.
Lloyd concluded: "He will be greatly missed by his family, his friends, all of us at Curtis Brown and of course his millions of fans around the world - though his books will of course live on forever."
His publisher Bill Scott-Kerr added: "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."
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According to Curtis Brown, the best-selling author passed away on Monday morning, surrounded by his family
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According to Curtis Brown, the best-selling author passed away on Monday morning surrounded by his family.
Before turning to writing, Forsyth served as an RAF pilot and later worked as a war correspondent for both the BBC and Reuters.
In 2015, he revealed that he had also spent more than two decades working with British intelligence agency MI6.
Many of his thrillers were inspired by his real-world experiences across the globe.
He rose to fame with The Day Of The Jackal, published in 1971 while he was unemployed
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He rose to fame with The Day Of The Jackal, published in 1971 while he was unemployed.
"[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 said.
The book is a gripping political thriller, set in 1963, that follows an Englishman hired to assassinate then-French president Charles de Gaulle.
It was adapted into a film in 1973 and more recently into a TV series on Sky Atlantic, starring Eddie Redmayne and Lashana Lynch.
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