Anthony Horowitz admits he refused to write his Bond novels for 'a modern audience' as he wades into contentious sensitivity row that saw Roald Dahl 's beloved books rewritten to 'remove' offensive language By Dolly Busby For The Daily Mail Published: 22:48 BST, 23 May 2024 | Updated: 23:13 BST, 23 May 2024 e-mail 1 View comments Anthony Horowitz has waded in on the sensitivity row which saw Roald Dahl ’s books rewritten to remove ‘offensive’ language and said he won’t have ‘people telling me what I have to do’. The 69-year-old best-selling British author was asked by the Ian Fleming estate to write three continuation books of the James Bond books With a Mind to Kill, Trigger Mortis and Forever and a Day. But when asked how he changed his versions to suit a modern audience, the Alex Rider novelist refuted the question and said: ‘The first thing I did not do was update it for a modern audience.
’ He continued: ‘I set it in the 1950s as I believe Bond only exists in his world. I did not give in to anything. He is still a womaniser, a smoker, and a killer.
‘There was nothing to change, not even the language, he used the word “bottom” a lot so I made sure I used it in every book. Anthony Horowitz has waded in on the sensitivity row which saw Roald Dahl ’s books rewritten to remove ‘offensive’ language and said he won’t have ‘people telling me what I have to do’ Last year Roald Dahl’s beloved children’s books were rewritten by sensitivity gur.