BRITISH WRITER LEE Child, creator of the Jack Reacher thriller series, is reportedly applying for an Irish passport due to Brexit.

Child, whose real name is James Grant, is a best-selling author of thriller novels, who has sold more than 100 million books.

He lives between the UK and the US but is entitled to an Irish passport as his father was born in Belfast.

The author said he wants an Irish passport to avoid the possibility of post-Brexit travel restrictions in Europe.

“I haven’t got the passport yet but I will do very soon, it feels like I’m cheating to be honest as I will get in the back door,” Child told the Irish Times.

He was speaking in Berlin as part of a European “Friendship Tour”, where Child and fellow British authors Kate Mosse, Jojo Moyes and Ken Follett spoke out against Brexit.

I am not a huge fan of Britain, even though I was born there.

“It’s a silly and frustrating country, which is why I moved to America,” Child said.

He also criticised Prime Minister Boris Johnson, portraying him as an elitist:

If he had gone to my school he would not now be Prime Minister.

The author’s pen name “Lee” comes from a family joke about a heard mispronunciation of the name of Renault’s Le Car, as “Lee Car”. The surname “Child” places his books on bookstore and library shelves between crime fiction greats Raymond Chandler and Agatha Christie. 

Child’s new book, Blue Moon, has just been released.