The Russia house - John le Carré

Barley Blair is not a Service man: he is a small-time publisher, a self-destructive soul whose only loves are whisky and jazz. But, one drunken night at a dacha during the Moscow Book Fair, Barley made a promise to a high-ranking Soviet scientist who could be the greatest asset to the West since perestroika began. Nearly a year later, his promise returns to haunt him. A reluctant Barley is trained by British Intelligence and sent to Moscow to liaise with a go-between, the beautiful Katya. Both are lonely and disillusioned. Each is increasingly certain that, if the human race is to have any future, all must betray their countries...

In his first post-glasnost novel, le Carré captures the effect of a slow and uncertain thaw on ordinary people and on the shadowy puppet-masters who command them.