Only a few minutes after Sebastian Faulks arrives, it’s clear that each of us is here for a different reason. The author wants to talk about Engleby, his novel about a dysfunctional university student, just out in paperback. I’m intrigued by his newer venture: to mark the centenary of Ian Fleming’s birth, Faulks was commissioned to write a James Bond thriller, which follows Fleming’s last novel before he died in 1964.

There’s another problem. Though I want to discuss the newer book, Devil May Care is under embargo – for his eyes only – until publication at the end of May. All I’ve seen so far is the cover.