Graham Greene of course, for those who don't know, spent some time in MI6 himself and knew people like Philby. So that in writing a book like The Human Factor, or even The Quiet American or Our Man in Havana, he's writing from personal experience. He would say experience of boredom, inanity and futility, indeed I've heard him say such in the very few interviews he gave in his lifetime. He was also an incurable traveller to out of the way places of his time, such as Vietnam.
