New James Bond book hitting shelves soon

Sean Connery as James Bond. A new Bond book is due out later this year.Photo / Supplied

A new James Bond novel, written by British novelist William Boyd, will be released on September 26, publishers Jonathan Cape have announced.

The book, as yet untitled, is set in 1969 and features a 45-year-old Bond.

"1969. A veteran secret agent. A single mission. A licence to kill. James Bond returns,'' readers are promised.

The glamorous British spy's creator, Ian Fleming, died in 1964 after writing 14 novels in the Bond series, but other authors have since kept the saga alive and the franchise has now sold more than 100 million books.

The latest two novels were Devil May Care (2008) by Sebastian Faulks and Jeffery Deaver's Carte Blanche in 2011.

This year marks 60 years since Fleming's first Bond novel, Casino Royale, was published in 1953.

The announcement of the new book's release date comes on the same day that Skyfall - the 23rd official Bond film, starring Daniel Craig - is released on DVD in Britain.

Boyd used Fleming as a character in his book Any Human Heart and has also worked with Bond actors Sean Connery, Pierce Brosnan and Craig.

- AFP