Ian Fleming are excited to announce King Zero, a blockbuster new adult James Bond novel from multi-million copy bestselling Young Bond creator, Charlie Higson. It will be published in the UK on 24th September 2026 by Penguin Michael Joseph.
Beginning with the murder of an agent in Saudi Arabia by a weapon never before seen by the Secret Service and spanning the globe in an epic race against time to avert global catastrophe, the novel brings the literary Bond squarely into the twenty-first century, where the old world that made him is crumbling and a terrifying new order emerges while a dangerous villain – the most distinctive since Goldfinger – moves in the shadows. Higson explores themes of power, technology, and international tensions over resources in an extraordinarily timely story.
“Having warmed up with my Young Bond series, and the short story, On His Majesty’s Secret Service, I’m beyond excited to be writing my first full blown adult Bond adventure. 20 years after first writing “The name’s Bond, James Bond,” it still sends shivers down my spine every time I type it. I’m having a blast with this new novel, which is absolutely set in the modern world, and I hope will sit comfortably on the airport bookshelves alongside other contemporary thrillers. It embraces the worlds of both the literary Bond and the cinematic Bond, and my bad guy has all the elements we expect from a classic Bond villain, with a twist that’s not been done before.” – Charlie Higson
“We are delighted to be working with Penguin Michael Joseph on the publication of King Zero. Charlie Higson’s return to James Bond follows his outstanding success with On His Majesty’s Secret Service, commissioned for the King’s Coronation, and we are delighted to be working with Charlie again, bringing the next chapter of Bond to fans.” – Amanda Douglas, Managing Director of Ian Fleming Publications Ltd.
“There’s no character
in all of fiction quite like James Bond, and since Ian Fleming’s passing no-one
has captured him quite so distinctively as Charlie Higson. We were swept away
by Charlie’s vision for Bond which will delight old fans and new, and we can’t
wait to make this the coolest, classiest publication of the year.” – Joel
Richardson, Publisher at Michael Joseph