For an intelligence agency looking for new recruits, the promises of adventure and intrigue found on the pages of famous spy novels may seem like a useful recruiting tool.
But promoting a double agent who lies to his family, betrays his country and ends his own life, is possibly not a strategy that will produce the best candidates.
Canada’s spy agency did just that when it posted an apparently innocent article tweet drawing attention to new job offers.
“You could be the perfect spy. All you need is a cause, ”wrote the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), based on a line from John le Carré’s 1986 novel, A Perfect Spy. Under a quote, the ad asked: “What is your cause? See if this aligns with a rewarding career at #CSIS ”
The book, widely seen as Le Carré’s most autobiographical work, follows the tangled life and moral flaws of Magnus Pym, a British spy who betrayed his colleagues and spies from Czechoslovakia. The book ends with Pym shooting himself in the head after years of duplicity finally catching up with him.
Internet users quickly raised the point that CSIS recruiters may not have fully mastered the material they cited.
“Did you … did you read the book? Or, you know. Like, any of your books, ” tweeted a user.
“So should potential Canadian spies be inspired by the story of someone who worked as a double agent and betrayed his country? This is very intriguing – what are you trying to tell us here? ” tweeted other.
Le Carré, a pseudonym of the British writer David Cornwell, was himself a former spy, and his works, which frequently explored themes of betrayal, were highly critical of the world of espionage.
The publisher Penguin Random House calls A Perfect Spy a “morally confused chronicle of modern espionage”. Another summary describes him as a “devastating portrait of a man who has played different roles for so long, who no longer knows who he is”.
In a statement, CSIS said: “The tweet was simply a tribute to the acclaimed spy novelist David Cornwell, who wrote many books and recently passed away. Cornwell’s novels inspired generations of individuals to consider careers as intelligence professionals. Needless to say, we encourage individuals interested in pursuing a career in security and intelligence to do so to protect their country and keep their countrymen safe. “
The tweet came on the same day that hundreds of employees at the Communications Security Establishment, the country’s foreign intelligence and cyber security agency, announced that they were on strike amid growing fears of cyber attacks during the coronavirus pandemic.