The book was adapted into a film of the same name, and Smith has written two sequels: the Secret Speech and Agent 6.

The son of Swedish mother Barbro and English father Ron, both antiques dealers,[2] Smith was born and raised at Norbury, South London.

[1] Following his graduation from St John's College, Cambridge, in 2001, he received the Harper Wood Studentship for English Poetry and Literature and continued his Creative Writing studies for a year at the University of Pavia, in Italy.

[4][5][6] After completing his studies, Smith worked as a writer and a script editor, including a stint with the BBC.

Child 44 stars Gary Oldman, Tom Hardy, Noomi Rapace, Charles Dance, and Joel Kinnaman.