The Stainless Steel Rat

James Bolivar diGriz
First printing cover to The Stainless Steel Rat by Harry Harrison.
Created by	Harry Harrison
Information
Nickname(s)	Slippery Jim
Aliases	The Stainless Steel Rat
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Occupation	Con man Bank robber Criminal mastermind
Significant other(s)	Angelina diGriz

James Bolivar diGriz, alias "Slippery Jim" and "The Stainless Steel Rat", is a fictional character and the antihero of a series of comic science fiction novels written by Harry Harrison.

The Stainless Steel Rat is James Bolivar diGriz, who goes by many aliases, including "Slippery Jim" and "The Stainless Steel Rat". He is a futuristic con man, thief, and all-round rascal. He is charming and quick-witted. He is also a master of disguise and martial arts, an accomplished bank robber, a criminal mastermind, an expert on breaking and entering, and (perhaps most usefully) a skilled liar. Master of self-rationalization, the Rat frequently justifies his crimes by arguing that he is providing society with entertainment; and besides which, he only steals from institutions that have insurance coverage. He displays a strong sense of morality, albeit in a much more restricted sense than is traditional. For example, diGriz will steal without compunction, but deplores killing.

The character was introduced in Harrison's short story "The Stainless Steel Rat", first published in 1957 in Astounding magazine. The story introduces the Rat, who has just carried out a successful larceny operation, and subsequently details a complex bank robbery the Rat pulls off with ease; however, he is outfoxed by the mysterious "Special Corps" — a crime-fighting organisation staffed with former criminals — and recruited by them in order to fight crime. Harrison used the story, with minor modifications, as the introduction to the series' first full-length novel, also called The Stainless Steel Rat. Like other characters created by Harrison, the Rat is a speaker of Esperanto and advocates atheism.

There are 13 works in the Stainless Steel Rat series.

Based on information in The Stainless Steel Rat Saves the World it is possible to work out when the timeline is set: James is sent 32,598 years into the past to 1975, making events happen in and around 34,573 (in the 346th century) – although Professor Coypu also mentions that they are now using a different calendar to the Gregorian calendar. Specifics of the new calendar are never mentioned.