They had a special mission and were given a licence to stay up all night ... James Bond fans braved stormy weather to be the first to buy the new novel marking the centenary of the birth of 007 creator Ian Fleming.

A number of fans endured thunder and rain to be at Waterstone's in Piccadilly, London, at 8am today where 200 signed and numbered editions of Devil May Care by Sebastian Faulks went on sale at £100 each.

First was Steve Norris, 39, from Hackney, east London, a housing manager, who started queueing at 4pm yesterday. He said he had been a Bond fan "ever since I can remember". As he got his hands on his copy he said: "It feels absolutely brilliant. It was worth the wait."

Second and third in the queue were Aron Taylor and friend Daniel Woolman, both aged 25, from Barnet. Mr Woolman, a self-employed inventor, said: "We came for the adventure. Every British boy wants to be Bond."

Faulks, author of Birdsong and Charlotte Gray, wrote the novel in six weeks after being commissioned by Fleming's estate. The launch party at the private members' club Fifty in St James saw Faulks in attendance alongside the model Tuuli Shipster, who is featured on the cover of the new book. Absent - for at least part of the evening - were Faulks's children William, 17, Holly, 15, and Arthur, 11, who fell victim to the club's strict "over-21" door policy. "If anyone knows how to bend some arms around here tonight, that would be much appreciated," exclaimed Faulks. "My children have worked very hard for tonight as well and I know they're dying to be allowed in."

Also at the party were newsreaders Emily Maitlis and Andrea Catherwood who struck up Bond girl-style poses.

Maitlis, 37, enjoying an evening off from Newsnight, admitted: "I don't like James Bond half as much as I like my Martinis," before adding: "I'll be stuck doing Newsnight for the rest of the summer, [so it's] bye bye parties for me."

Should she ever tire of the news lark, of course, there's surely a role for her in the next Bond movie. Judging by her red satin dress, Maitlis is a shoo-in.

• 

  Sex, lies and the Stasi

  On this day in 1989 the Berlin Wall was finally breached, ending the reign of East Germany’s feared security service. Here Anne McElvoy, who spent much of the Eighties in the city, recalls her encounters with the spooks

  ---

• 

  The geeky-girl solo artists descending on the music scene

  Kookiness is what sells music these days and these opinionated artists have it in spades, says Jasmine Gardner

  ---

Why Sam's in the clear over that M&S dress

At last the truth about the M&S spotted dress that Sam Cam wore to the Conservative Party Conference

All stories