No, this isn't an April Fool's joke. Ian Fleming Publications and Penguin Michael Joseph have announced that a new James Bond novel by Charlie Higson will be published in the UK on September 24, 2026. Yes, this year! Below is the cover and part of the press release for King Zero.
A brand new James Bond novel, KING ZERO, has been announced via a guerrilla projection at sites across London.
Beginning with the murder of an agent in Saudi Arabia by a weapon never before seen by the Secret Service and spanning the globe in an epic race against time to avert global catastrophe, the novel brings the literary Bond squarely into the twenty-first century, where the old world that made him is crumbling and a terrifying new order emerges while a dangerous villain – the most distinctive since Goldfinger – moves in the shadows. Higson explores themes of power, technology, and international tensions over resources in an extraordinarily timely story.It will be published in the UK/Commonwealth by Penguin Michael Joseph, and is scheduled for release on 24th September 2026. Publisher Joel Richardson acquired rights from Viola Hayden and Ciara Finan at Curtis Brown, on behalf of Ian Fleming Publications Ltd. North American Rights have sold to Amazon Publishing.
Higson said: “Having warmed up with my Young Bond series, and the short story, On His Majesty’s Secret Service, I’m beyond excited to be writing my first full blown adult Bond adventure. 20 years after first writing “The name’s Bond, James Bond,” it still sends shivers down my spine every time I type it. I'm having a blast with this new novel, which is absolutely set in the modern world, and I hope will sit comfortably on the airport bookshelves alongside other contemporary thrillers. It embraces the worlds of both the literary Bond and the cinematic Bond, and my bad guy has all the elements we expect from a classic Bond villain, with a twist that’s not been done before”.
