The Human Factor - Graham Greene

Here is Greene in Le Carre territory, giving us a claustrophobic post-Philby spy story. The tone shifts from comedy to thriller to minor key tragedy with beautiful subtlety. Much is made of the insidious nature of the class system, the corrosive effects of deception and - the book's overriding theme, I think - the vulnerability we take on when we fall in love.

There are also some good jokes about Maltesers.