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Isaac Asimov was one of America's most prolific and best-loved science fiction authors, publishing more than 500 volumes in a career that spanned five decades. But newly released papers show that, in the 1960s, the FBI investigated him on suspicion of being a Soviet spy.

Never-before-seen documents reveal that the agency acted to investigate Asimov in 1965 receiving a leaked US Communist Party list which included the I, Robot author's name. The list was of individuals who had either been contacted by the party or were considered "possibly amenable to such as supporters".

There were no notations behind the writer's name and the informant - the New England District chairman of the US Communist Party - said he "could not determine why his name was listed or whether he had been contacted".

The FBI files on Asimov show that the agency scrutinized his records to see if he was a notorious Soviet informant codenamed Robprof. Asimov had been working as a biochemist at Boston University for more than a decade, and the FBI memo reviewed his work in academia to see if he could be Robprof who, they said, was a "noted person in the field of microbiology".

"[The FBI office in] Boston is not suggesting that Asimov is Robprof," the memo commented, "But it should be considered as a possibility in light of his background, which contains information inimical to the best interests of the United States."

The FBI continued to monitor Asimov for at least the next two years.

In 1967 a memo in the files noted a change of address, as well as checks on his credit history and criminal record. Those, and his immigration files, failed to unearth any issues. That marked the last note in Asimov's FBI file. News of the FBI's suspicions about the sci-fi writer's political leaning emerged after the US open government campaign group MuckRock put in a freedom of information request to see his FBI file.