BMJ: Desde James Bond ...con alcohol. / "The Man with the Golden Liver"

"Although we appreciate the societal pressures 

to consume alcohol when working 

with international terrorists 

and high stakes gamblers, 

we would advise Bond 

to be referred for further assessment 

of his alcohol intake."

BMJ

Objective 

To quantify James Bond’s consumption of alcohol as detailed in the series of novels by Ian Fleming. 

Design 

Retrospective literature review. 

Setting 

The study authors’ homes, in a comfy chair. 

Participants 

Commander James Bond, 007; Mr Ian Lancaster Fleming. 

Main outcome measures 

Weekly alcohol consumption by Commander Bond.

Methods 

All 14 James Bond books were read by two of the authors. Contemporaneous notes were taken detailing every alcoholic drink taken. Predefined alcohol unit levels were used to calculate consumption. Days when Bond was unable to consume alcohol (such as through incarceration) were noted. 

Results 

After exclusion of days when Bond was unable to drink, his weekly alcohol consumption was 92 units a week, over four times the recommended amount. His maximum daily consumption was 49.8 units. He had only 12.5 alcohol free days out of 87.5 days on which he was able to drink. 

 

Conclusions
 

-James Bond’s level of alcohol intake puts him at high risk of multiple alcohol related diseases and an early death.

-The level of functioning as displayed in the books is inconsistent with the physical, mental, and indeed sexual functioning expected from someone drinking this much alcohol.

-We advise an immediate referral for further assessment and treatment, a reduction in alcohol consumption to safe levels, and suspect that the famous catchphrase “shaken, not stirred” could be because of alcohol induced tremor affecting his hands.

Author and ex-Naval intelligence operative Ian Lancaster Fleming died at a relatively young age from a myocardial infarction and enjoyed smoking and drinking to excess. It has been postulated that the habits of his literary character, James Bond, had habits similar to his own James Bond’s consumption and in depth knowledge of a wide variety of alcoholic drinks is well documented. What has been unclear to date is whether he was more a connoisseur or a chronic alcoholic.
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