John Barry is an agent with MI6.
More specifically, he is an operative working for a man known as the Colonel, a particularly stern taskmaster with little sense of humor, who run a group called the Division. Barry is especially good at his job for the Division which, he tells us early on is looked down upon by those not in that section. "My talents, so repudiated in the rest of the Service, were perfectly suited to the needs of the Division". And while Barry gets annoyed at the near-constant growling coming from his boss, "only the Colonel seem to recognize [that skillset]" so Barry put up with him just as the Colonel put up with Barry.
The time frame for Barry's activities is the early days of the 1950s. The Second World War was over a half decade before but the trouble on the Korean Peninsula was in its second of 4 years. Elsewhere int he world hostilities were not so open but there was no doubt the Cold War was well underway. Barry lets us know that he had been in government service for quite some time, dating back to his combat service in WWII. "My penchant for espionage was demonstrated during the war. The summary of my characteristics was something like this: unable to follow the rules, aversion to authority and always willing to take the easiest path to the goal I had in mind. In addition, I had an excessive taste for drinking, women and gambling. Fortunately, I also had a great facility for languages, was skilled at solving problems and, above all, I was a patriot."
When, as he puts it, the army ran out of patience with him, he was transferred to MI6 but it was not long before his style butted heads with "that narrow circle of gentlemen who engaged in espionage from the halls of London clubs. That is when he was switched to "another department even more secret, more select, and, truth be told, much more entertaining; namely, the Special Operations Executive though some used the term "Ministry of Ungentlemanly War". Barry was a fan of that name. After the War ended and the SOE was disbanded, Barry wondered what he would do with his life knowing that he had inclination for 'normal' life. That is when the Colonel came to call with an offer to work for the Division. He admits that many times over the six years he has worked there, he has regretted having "accepted a deal with the devil" but when the phone rings in the wee hours of the morning for yet another assignment, Barry is always ready to answer it.
Good Lines:
- Said by a frequent visitor to Barry's bed noting his skills in both the bedroom and the kitchen, "You'd be a great catch if it weren't for the fact that you're a scumbag".
- Regarding his eagerness for his next mission, Barry notes, "A spy is useless waiting in his own home".