Memory room. Christopher Koch. 2007.

‘What is a spy? Are they born, or are they made?’

With these words, Vincent Austin analyses his future occupation. Some spies are made, he says, but his kind is born - since he is devoted to secrecy for its own sake. Vincent’s childhood friend Erika Lange shares his fascination with the covert - she and Vincent are twin spirits, inhabiting a shared world of fantasy and ritual.

Having graduated from University, Vincent and his easygoing friend Derek Bradley aim to enter Foreign Affairs, but Vincent is recruited by ASIS, Australia’s overseas secret intelligence service. Erika, meanwhile, becomes a journalist, eventually joining Foreign Affairs herself as a press officer. With the Cold War reaching its final peak, the fantasies of youth have become reality for Vincent and Erika, but they lead to a tragic climax. It is left to Bradley, who inherits Vincent’s diaries, to contemplate their story.