When Does "The Amateur" (1981) Take Place?
"The Amateur" is a spy novel written by Robert Littell that released May 15th, 1981. So when is "The Amateur" set?
It takes place in the year:
We know this because in "CHAPTER ONE" the inciting incident for the entire plot occurs in the American consulate building in West Germany, a nation-state that only existed in the aftermath of World War II, from May 23rd, 1949 AD to October 3rd, 1990 AD. So it must be sometime between May of 1949 and October of 1990 AD.
1972 AD
We know this because in "CHAPTER ONE" the inciting incident for the entire plot occurs in the American consulate building in West Germany, a nation-state that only existed in the aftermath of World War II, from May 23rd, 1949 AD to October 3rd, 1990 AD. So it must be sometime between May of 1949 and October of 1990 AD.
Later, "CHAPTER TWO" reveals Charles "Charlie" Heller's "immediate superior, the assistant to the Deputy Director Plans" Turner Rutledge, and his title is a shorthand for the real-world position in the United States of America's Central Intelligence Agency, Deputy Director of Plans, which was renamed Deputy Director for Operations on March 1st, 1973 AD. So it must be before March of 1973 AD.
Furthermore, in "CHAPTER FOUR" a CIA department head summarizes their file on a terrorist, "In 1970 she was arrested in connection with several bombings—that was when this mug shot was taken." and very soon after "After that she disappeared for two and a half years, presumably into the Middle East. She surfaced again in our consulate in Munich.", referring to the inciting incident that opens the story. We don't have a month for the "several bombings" or the terrorist's subsequent arrest and "two and a half years" might be an approximation but it should come to roughly 2 years and 6 months after 1970 AD, which puts the story in 1972 AD.
1970 + 6.2 = 6.1972.
More specifically, when Heller arrives in New England during "CHAPTER THREE" the narrator tells us, "They were late, he thought. They had missed autumn by several weeks; the colors now were muted, quieter, earthier, faded" so it's most likely November or December of 1972 AD and the rest of the novel covers just weeks or months so it ends in either late 1972 AD or early 1973 AD.
It was adapted to film in late 1981 and then again 2025.
