You Only Live Twice (novel)

You Only Live Twice

First edition cover
Author	Ian Fleming
Cover artist	Richard Chopping
Language	English
Series	James Bond
Genre	Spy fiction
Published	26 March 1964
Publisher	Jonathan Cape
Publication place	United Kingdom
Media type	Print (hardback & paperback)
Pages	260
Preceded by	On Her Majesty's Secret Service
Followed by	The Man with the Golden Gun

You Only Live Twice is the eleventh novel and twelfth book in Ian Fleming's James Bond series of stories. It was first published by Jonathan Cape in the United Kingdom on 26 March 1964 and sold out quickly. It was the last Fleming novel published in his lifetime. Fleming based his novel in Japan after visiting it in 1959 as part of a trip around the world; his experience was published as Thrilling Cities. He returned to the country in 1962 and spent twelve days exploring the country and its culture.

You Only Live Twice is the concluding chapter in what is known as the "Blofeld Trilogy" after Thunderball and On Her Majesty's Secret Service. The story begins eight months after the murder of Tracy Bond, which occurred at the end of the previous novel, On Her Majesty's Secret Service. James Bond is drinking and gambling heavily and making mistakes on his assignments when, as a last resort, he is sent to Japan on a semi-diplomatic mission. While there he is challenged by the head of the Japanese Secret Service to kill Dr. Guntram Shatterhand. Bond realises that Shatterhand is Ernst Stavro Blofeld—the man responsible for Tracy's death—and sets out on a revenge mission to kill him and his wife, Irma Bunt.

The novel deals on a personal level with the change in Bond from an emotionally shattered man in mourning, to a man of action bent on revenge, to an amnesiac living as a Japanese fisherman. Through the mouths of his characters, Fleming also examines the decline of post-Second World War British power and influence, notably in relation to the United States. The book was popular with the public, with pre-orders in the UK totalling 62,000; critics were more muted in their reactions, generally delivering mixed reviews of the novel, with many critical of the extended sections of what they considered a travelogue.

The story was serialised in the Daily Express newspaper and Playboy magazine, and also adapted for comic strip format in the Daily Express. In 1967, it was released as the fifth entry in the Eon Productions James Bond film series, starring Sean Connery as Bond; elements of the story were also used in No Time to Die (2021), the twenty-sixth film in the Eon Productions series. The novel has also been adapted as a radio play and broadcast on the BBC.