‘Devil May Care,’ the new James Bond novel by Sebastian Faulks, has smashed sales figures, by becoming Penguin's fastest selling hardback fiction title ever.

The book, commissioned to mark the centenary of the birth of Bond's creator, Ian Fleming, sold 44,093 copies in its first four days of publication, reports BBC.

Previous Penguin bestsellers by the likes of Tom Clancy and Nick Hornby have sold about 11,500 copies in their first four days, the publisher said.

	The book sold 44,093 copies in its first four days of publication.

Faulks, best known for his books Birdsong and Charlotte Gray, was chosen by the trustees of Fleming's estate to write the 15th Bond adventure.

Previous authors of official Bond novels include Kingsley Amis, John Gardner and Raymond Benson.

Set in 1967, ‘Devil May Care’ takes 007 to London, Paris and the Middle East.