James Atlee Phillips

James Atlee Phillips
BornJames Atlee Phillips
1915
Fort Worth, Texas
Died(1991-05-26)May 26, 1991
Corpus Christi, Texas
Pen namePhilip Atlee
OccupationAirline executive, novelist
LanguageEnglish
GenreSpy fiction
Notable worksCreator of Joe Gall

James Atlee Phillips (1915 – May 26, 1991) was an American writer who used the pseudonym Philip Atlee for the "Contract" series of spy novels.

Atlee was born in Fort Worth, Texas and attended University of Texas at Austin, Texas Christian University and the University of Missouri. In World War II he worked for China National Airlines in Rangoon and later ran the national airline in Myanmar (then called Burma).[1]

The "Contract" series featured former spy Joe Gall, who comes out of retirement to take on specific jobs. There were twenty-nine novels in the series, published from 1963 to 1976 by Gold Medal Books.[2] The White Wolverine Contract was nominated for the 1972 Edgar Award for best paperback original.[3]

Phillips was the father of Shawn Phillips and the brother of CIA officer David Atlee Phillips.

  1. ^ "Philip Atlee, 77, Dies; Wrote Detective Novels". New York Times. 30 May 1991. Retrieved 2021-03-10.
  2. ^ Kelley, George. "Philip Atlee's Joe Gall Series". Mystery*File. Retrieved 2021-03-10.
  3. ^ "Edgar Allan Poe Award Best Paperback Original". Cozy Mystery List. Retrieved 2021-03-10.