<Tr> <Th> Media type </Th> <Td> Print (hardback & paperback) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> No. of books </Th> <Td> 14 </Td> </Tr> <P> The James Bond literary franchise is a series of novels and short stories, first published in 1953 by Ian Fleming, a British author, journalist, and former naval intelligence officer . James Bond, often referred to by his code name, 007, is a British Secret Service agent; the character was created by journalist and author Ian Fleming, and first appeared in his 1953 novel Casino Royale; the books are set in a contemporary period, between May 1951 and February 1964 . Fleming went on to write a total of twelve novels and two collections of short stories, all written at his Jamaican home Goldeneye and published annually . Two of his books were published after his death in 1964 . </P> <P> Since Fleming's death a number of other authors have written continuation works . Some of these have been novelizations of episodes in the series of Bond films, produced by Eon Productions, while others were either continuation novels or short stories . The first author was Kingsley Amis, writing under the pseudonym of "Robert Markham" who produced one novel; then came novelist and biographer John Pearson who wrote a fictional biography of Bond . Novelist and screenwriter Christopher Wood wrote two novelizations in the late 1970s . Writer John Gardner was asked to continue the series by copyright holders Ian Fleming Publications and, between 1981 and 1996, he wrote fourteen novels and two novelizations . After Gardner retired due to ill health, American author Raymond Benson continued the stories and wrote six Bond novels, three novelizations and three short stories between 1996 and 2002 . </P>

How many james bond books did ian fleming