Ian Lancaster Fleming (May 28, 1908 to August 12, 1964) was an English writer, best known for his James Bond series of spy novels, and his only children's novel, Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., and his father was the Member of Parliament (MP) from 1910 until his death on the Western Front in 1917. Fleming himself was heavily involved in British intelligence during World War II. Raymond Thornton Chandler (July 23, 1888 to March 26, 1959) was an American novelist and screenwriter. His first novel, The Big Sleep, was published in 1939. All but one of his eight novels have been made into motion pictures. Chandler had an immense stylistic influence on American popular literature, including pioneering the hardboiled school of detective fiction. The protagonist of his novels, Philip Marlowe, is considered by some to be synonymous with "private detective." The following recording is from the late 1950s.