books for people with ridiculously narrow taste

right. my father is impossible to buy for. enough money to buy whatever he wants whenever he wants. zero hobbies. taste that can only be described as 'outrageously ascetic'. buying him baubles or clothing or anything he needs is not an option.

which leaves books. he does read. he only reads books by len deighton and john le carre. and books set in england/ireland between 1961 and 1976. books about scummy british detectives and gangsters and the like. can anyone recommend anything he might like that is widely available that he hasn't likely already read?

[Skipbidder]

If you want to push his tastes a little bit, try some Rumpole books (by John Mortimer). The time and place are right. Some of them even have scummy detectives. The protagonist is a defense barrister named Horace Rumple. (They are available as books on tape and as a BBC series on DVD as well, but it sounds like books are the better choice.)

that is an excellent suggestion, but he has all those books. i should have mentioned them. also good suggestions but unfortunately already read by him include the adrian mole books and anything by jonathan coe

[diebitter]

One of the later James Bonds?

For your eyes only (which is 5 short stories) maybe?

Moonraker actually fits the bill almost perfectly, cept it's set pre 1961 (mid 1950's I think)

[patrick_mcmurray]

If he likes England then what about PG Wodehouse Jeeves and Wooster? Or if he likes detective novels then Iain Banks - Rebus. Sherlock Holmes?

[Olof]

If he hasn't already read them he would probably like London Fields by Martin Amis and Brighton Rock by Graham Greene.

Get him some porn, he needs to broaden his horizons.

[Gunny Highway]

Jack Higgins wrote a bunch of books fitting this description.

[Blarg]

Does he only like detective and spy stories from that time and place, or is he also just interested in the time period but willing to step outside those two genres?

[Bascule]

The Long Firm trilogy (The Long Firm, He Kills Coppers and Truecrime, also available in one volume) by Jake Arnott. 60s British gangster stories, good stuff too.