Nanny (The Clocks)

In the novel The Clocks, "Nanny" is the nickname given to the secretary of Colonel Beck, the superior of the counter-espionage agent Colin Lamb. She worked in the Colonel's office located up a rickety back staircase in a dingy bookstore in a side street near the British museum.

Nanny is a "Miss Moneypenny" type character. In light-hearted banter, she chided Colin when he came to report, saying he had to do better. She doesn't approve of Colin calling her "nanny" but Colin tells her he can't help it because of the way she talks to him like to a small boy, like "an elderly governess might do to a disappointing child".

Nanny is described as "an elderly woman with grey hair, spectacles of a particularly old-fashioned kind, a black skirt and a rather unexpected peppermint-striped jumper."