Ian Fleming is an operative for British Intelligence.
It is has been well documented that Ian Fleming was, during the Second World War, a noted member of the Intelligence community, giving him considerable experience for use when writing the famed James Bond novels. After the war, Fleming turned to journalism to pay the bills until his books could find their eventual success.
In this three-book series, the premise is that Fleming was not allowed to remain out of the "business". His knowledge of the craft as well as the people still in the business, coupled with his credentials and cover as a journalist, he would be the perfect person to use when things get dicey.
During the course of these adventures, Fleming is supposed to have come across others who had traits he admired or thought interesting, and some aspects of his own persona as well, that he realized would make a dynamic secret agent, eventually creating Bond. The style of writing is purposefully similar in nature to Fleming's, especially when it comes to the food that the protagonist eats, the beverages he consumes, and the women who enter his life. Furthermore, the books possess the same feel of a travelogue that many of Fleming's book did, including his Thrilling Cities.
The adventures that Fleming have do not compare with those that Bond had nor do the villians. In general, the activities are rather subdued. It is possible that this was by intention of the author as it may have been an amusing theory of how Bond came to be in Fleming's head more than actually trying to suppose that Fleming really was the prototype for Bond.