James Atlee Phillips

James Atlee Phillips was an American writer who used the pseudonym Philip Atlee for his "Contract" series of spy novels.

Life

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

Works

Phillips's "Contract" series featured former spy Joe Gall, who comes out of retirement to take on specific jobs. The novels were "yarns featuring sadism and pornography", and in each of them Gall would fall in love with a new woman who would end up being killed by the end of the novel.
The twenty-nine novels were published from 1963 to 1976 by Gold Medal Books. The White Wolverine Contract was nominated for the 1972 Edgar Award for best paperback original.