Q&A With Helen Fielding

By Rebecca Winters

Helen Fielding's (Bridget Jones's Diary) new novel is Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination

Is writing a spy novel your reaction to 9/11?

Yeah. It doesn't seem quite as appropriate to spend all day obsessing about the exact circumference of your thighs. It's kind of a comforting thought if you have this alter ego who takes on the enemies and vanquishes them with derring-do. It cheers you up.

Your heroine appears to fall for a terrorist. Did you worry you might offend?

My books have all generated controversy. Bridget Jones was considered a disgrace to feminism. Comedy tends to come out of things which are quite painful and serious.

Do you like being the godmother of chick lit?

I like the idea that it was all my idea, though the truth is, it was zeitgeist. It was a group of women that fiction hadn't caught up with yet.

What do you make of the fuss over Renee Zellweger's weight in the Bridget Jones movies?

Nobody seems that interested when I put on 15 pounds. I can do it really quickly too.

Aren't female spies usually the bad guys?

They're either sidekicks and just shags or on the other side. It's rather fun writing a female spy, because she has so much more kit. Bond never carried a hair dryer or a makeup bag. And he certainly didn't wear an uplift bra. It's amazing what you can put in the booster packs in the underwiring.