Christopher Bond is an agent with British Intelligence.
At least he becomes one at the start of the hostilities of WWII. Prior to that he is known as an adventurer and, on at least one instance, a "famous criminologist". He is also referred to as "a young man with a thirst for excitement and adventure ... smiling, fearless and eager for adventure. He seems to be able to smell trouble, for he certainly finds plenty of it."
According to The Mystery Fancier, "Bond is an adventurer, always looking for trouble. During the war years the British use his reckless powers to combat the Nazis." Prior to the start of that horrible War, however, Bond had already made a name for himself in some intelligence circles as a good man to have on their side in combating foreign agents.
He did this through his primary profession "based upon the theory - abundantly proved - that many rich and famous men were likely to become victims, at some time or another, of blackmailers, who had ferreted out old and almost forgotten follies which could, by judicious manipulation, be magnified many diameters, and cause distress to the victim's family. It was [his] profession to stand as their defender and champion against such criminal actions. And this very often thrust him definitely into danger zones."
In doing these defenses, Bond would on several occasions find that the would-be victims were men of important standing in the government and the blackmailers were foreign operatives out to inflict grave damage to the security of the Crown. In solving several of these matters, Bond had earned the respect and appreciation of several high-ranking leader of British Intelligence who would quickly learn who to call upon in such matters.
In his preparatory school, Bond had been a bit of a rebellious sort, "an individualist .. not invariably recommended to his housemaster and tutors" (apparently not a good thing). Later at Oxford, he had "persisted in the fascinating but forbidden game of roof climbing". Further, there was "a cheery sort of insolence about [him] that some people hated" but which others did not.
Bond would greatly expand on this adventurousness by traveling all over his homeland and then onto the Continent. He fell in love with flying and quickly became proficient at it. He went so far as to spend a great deal of time as a volunteer test-pilot, logging according to him at one point "1500 air-hours". His love of aviation extends to knowing every part of a plane such that as a mechanic he felt confident he could take apart and reassemble any aircraft.
But even more than flying, Bond loved being in the thick of intrigue and mystery and going up against foreign agents seemed just the ticket.