The West Berlin office of "Secret Intelligence Service", under station chief Alec Leamas (Richard Burton), has suffered from reduced effectiveness. He is recalled to London shortly after the death of one of his operatives and is seemingly drummed out of the agency. In reality, a carefully staged transformation of Leamas has been arranged by Control (Cyril Cusack), the agency's chief. Appearing to be depressed, embittered, and alcoholic, Leamas takes work as an assistant at a local library. There, he begins a relationship with coworker Nan Perry (Claire Bloom), a young and idealistic member of the English Communist Party. Leamas spends most of his small salary on alcohol, leaving him constantly low on funds. He drunkenly assaults a shopkeeper who refuses him credit and is briefly jailed. His predicament draws the attention of the Hauptverwaltung Aufklärung, who sees him as a potential defection.