Search results for ""author p.g. wodehouse""

Sir Buckstone Abbot owns what is possibly the ugliest stately home in England, and he is naturally eager to dispose of it to an American heiress, Princess Dwornitzchek. But the sale is complicated by the Princess's engagement to Adrian Peake, who is being pursued by Sir Buckstone's daughter, Jane, who is loved by Joe Vanringham. In the end, almost everyone gets what they want, even Prudence Whittaker, Sir Buckstone's awfully well-spoken secretary.

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In Wodehouse’s final novel, unfinished at his death, the author returns to his favourite part of England for one last time. In a classic plot, Vicky Underwood is parted from her fiancé, Jeff Bennison, which means that her uncle, Galahad Threepwood, has to engineer a complicated plot to bring them back together. Many old friends reappear to take their last bow: the Earl of Emsworth, Dame Daphne Winkworth, Beach the butler, the Empress of Blandings (Lord Emsworth’s prize pig), Freddie Threepwood (his son), G. Ovens, innkeeper, and an array of the earl’s formidable sisters. There may be trouble in the air, but at Blandings Castle it is always summer, always quiet and sunlit - and the powers of darkness are always ultimately defeated. Just how that defeat would have been brought about, had Wodehouse completed his story, is shown in the copious notes he made for it. These are included in this volume, together with commentary by Richard Usborne, Tony Ring and Norman Murphy.

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This is the first of the Blandings Castle novels, introducing Lord Emsworth, his family, his secretary - the Efficient Baxter - and the mandatory Wodehouse cast of butlers, aunts, younger sons, detectives, lovers and imposters. Take the 4.15 from Paddington Station to Shropshire and arrive in heaven.

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Collects Right Ho, Jeeves; Joy in the Morning; and Carry on, Jeeves'If you haven't read PG Wodehouse in a hot bath with a snifter of whiskey and ideally a rubber duck for company, you haven't lived [...] A book that's a sheer joy to read.' INDEPENDENT'To dive into a Wodehouse novel is to swim in some of the most elegantly turned phrases in the English language.' BEN SCHOTT______________________Jeeves may not always see eye to eye with Bertie Wooster on ties and fancy waistcoats, but he can always be relied on to whisk his young master spotlessly out of the soup (even if, for tactical reasons, he did drop him in it in the first place).The paragon of Gentlemen's Personal Gentlemen shimmers through the pages in much the same way he did through the first Jeeves Omnibus. This volume contains one brilliant collection of short stories and two hilarious novels: Right Ho, Jeeves, Joy in the Morning and Carry On, Jeeves.

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In these articles first produced for magazines and substantially rewritten for book publication, Wodehouse reveals his enduring brilliance as a comic writer of non-fiction. But the move out of fiction does not mean a move into unfamiliar territory: any reader of Wodehouse’s stories will be familiar with the topics covered here which preoccupied him all his life, ranging from Shakespeare, Hollywood and musical comedy, to butlers, thrillers, ocean liners and income tax.

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"Deep down in his heart the genuine Englishman has a rugged distaste for seeing his country invaded by a foreign army. People were asking themselves by what right these aliens had overrun British soil. An ever-growing feeling of annoyance had begun to lay hold of the nation.”Clarence Chugwater is not a Boy Scout for nothing. It is summer 1909 and everyone is too interested in the Test Match to notice that England has been invaded by the Germans. And the Russians. And the Chinese. Not to mention a ‘boisterous band of the Young Turks’, a mad Mullah, and a brace of North African pirates. The government has recently abolished the army so there is nothing to be done about it anyway, except give a masterly display of polite indifference. But this would be to reckon without patriotic Clarence, ‘Boy of Destiny’, who alone is prepared to stand up to the foe, and who devises a highly unorthodox plan to restore his country to freedom…The Swoop! Or, How Clarence Saved England reprints the 33 black and white drawings by C. Harrison that accompanied the first edition. It is supplemented by The Military Invasion of America, in which Clarence’s story is humorously transplanted across the Atlantic.

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Monty Bodkin has returned to London from Hollywood, leaving Sandy Miller, his secretary there, heartbroken, because Monty loves English hockey international Gertrude Butterwick instead of her. Holding down a job for a year was the condition laid down by Gertrude’s father before Monty and Gertrude could be married, a condition Monty has unexpectedly fulfilled by blackmailing Hollywood movie mogul Ivor Llewellyn. Back in England, he intends to claim his bride, but the path to true love never runs smooth, as Monty is about to find out.

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The `Frozen Assets' of the title belong to Edmund Biffen Christopher and they are the legacy of his Godfather which he will receive if he manages to avoid been arrested, something of a previous habit of Biffen's, until after his thirtieth birthday one week hence. Lord Tilbury, proprietor of the Mammoth publish company, whom we met previously in `Bill the Conqueror', `Summer Lightning' and `Heavy Weather', is keen that Biffen does fall foul of the law as he will then receive the legacy himself. Tilbury has therefore engaged his usual henchman, Percy Pilbeam, to ensure that Biffen is lead astray and that it is brought to the attention of the constabulary. Only Wodehouse can scare up a happy ending where everyone gets exactly what is coming to them.

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Freddie Widgeon wants the money to buy shares in a coffee plantation in Kenya so that he can marry Sally Foster. Soapy and Dolly Molloy want to get their hands on a cache of stolen jewels hidden in the house of Freddie's neighbour in the suburb of Valley Fields. When their paths cross, the ensuing misunderstandings lead to vintage Wodehouse comedy.

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It is an intriguing collection, where most of the stories concern relationships, sports and household pets, and interestingly does not feature any of Wodehouse's regular characters; one however, "Extricating Young Gussie", is remarkable as the first appearance of some of Wodehouse's most well-known and beloved characters, Jeeves and his master Bertie Wooster (although here Bertie's surname appears to be Mannering-Phipps, and Jeeves' role is very small), along with Bertie's fearsome Aunt Agatha.

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Psmith helps acting editor Billy Windsor change the image of Cosy Moments magazine and they are stalked by gangsters when their expose of slum tenements angers an unscrupulous landlord.

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A collection of stories featuring familiar Wodehouse characters includes Jeeves and Wooster, Ukridge and his fearsome Aunt Julia, Bingo Little and his wife, romantic novelist Rosie M. Banks, twin Mulliner brothers George (the screenwriter) and Alfred (the conjuror),Galahad Threepwood, dotty Lord Emsworth and his younger son Freddie, the dog-biscuit salesman. In between stories, their creator explores some of the more extraordinary items in the American news of his day.

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Typical. Just when Bertie thinks that God's in his heaven and all's right with the world, things start to go wrong again...There's young Bingo Little, who's in love for the umpteenth time and needs Bertie to put in a good word for him with his uncle; Aunt Agatha, who forces Bertie to get engaged to the formidable Honoria Glossop; and the troublesome twins, Claude and Eustace, whose antics when let loose in London know no bounds.Add to that some friction in the Wooster home over a red cummerbund, purple socks and some snazzy old Etonian spats, and poor Bertie's really in the soup...Only one man can save the day - the inimitable Jeeves.Characters Bertie Wooster - Narrator who went to school with Bingo. Won a prize at his first school for the best collection of wild flowers. Jeeves - Bertie's valet who has an aunt who loves the romantic novels of Rosie M. Banks Bingo Little - Mortimer's nephew who loves Mabel. Tells his uncle that Bertie is really Rosie M. Banks. Mabel - Waitress in a tea shop Mortimer Little - Retired fat businessman who owned Little's Liniment - "It Limbers Up the Legs." He is a gourmet. Jane Watson - Mortimer's cook engaged to Jeeves, but not for long

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Do Butlers Burgle Banks? (1968) features Mike Bond, the hitherto fortunate owner of Bond's Bank, who finds himself in a spot of trouble so serious that he wants someone to burgle the bank before the trustees inspect it. Fortunately for him, Horace Appleby, currently posing as his butler, is on hand to oblige. For Horace is, in fact, not a butler at all but the best sort of American gangster, prudently concealing himself in an English country house while hiding from his rivals. Looking for peace and safety, Horace is to discover before long that the hot-spots of New York are a whole lot more restful than the English countryside. This is the lightest of light comedies, a Wodehousian soufflé from his later years.

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This book features more stories about the incredible Mulliner clan, following on from Meet Mr Mulliner. This volume includes such classic Wodehouse tales as 'The Man Who Gave Up Smoking', 'The Awful Gladness of the Mater', 'Unpleasantness at Bludleigh Court' and 'The Passing of Ambrose'.

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Very Good Jeeves! (1930) is a collection of eleven short stories starring Bertie Wooster in eleven alarming predicaments from which he has to be rescued by his peerless gentleman's gentleman. Whether Bertie is tangling with a red-headed ball of fire such as Roberta Wickham, dealing with an irate headmistress, placating a rampaging aunt, puncturing the wrong hot water bottle, singing 'Sonny Boy', or simply trying to concentrate on his golf handicap, Jeeves is always there to help - though rarely in ways which his employer expects. These brilliantly plotted stories give the essence of Wodehousian comedy.

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While staying with his Aunt Dahlia to help out in the election at Market Snodsbury, Bertie Wooster comes up against the familiar horrors of Florence Craye, his former fiancee, and Roderick Spode, head of the Black Shorts, in a plot tangle from which, as usual, only the ingenuity of Jeeves can save him.

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A humorous novel in which an Earl and his aristocratic family are divided by what is seen as a socially unsuitable marriage.

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Gussie Fink-Nottle simply must marry Madeline Bassett or Bertrand Wooster will be obliged to proffer the ring in his stead. In a daring attempt at securing the engagement, Jeeves and Bertie visit a rural leper colony.

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Nothing but trouble can ensue when Bertie Wooster's Aunt Dahlia instructs him to steal a silver jug from Totleigh Towers, home of magistrate and hell-hound, Sir Watkin Bassett. First he must face the peril of Sir Watkin's droopy daughter, Madeleine, and then the terrors of would-be Dictator, Roderick Spode and his gang of Black Shorts. But when duty calls, Bertram answers, and so there follows what he himself calls the 'sinister affair of Gussie Fink-Nottle, Madeleine Bassett, old Pop Bassett, Stiffy Byng, the Rev. H. P. ('Stinker') Pinker, the eighteenth-century cow-creamer and the small, brown, leather-covered notebook'. In a plot with more twists than an English country lane, it takes all the ingenuity of Jeeves to extract his master from the soup again.

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Celebrating 120 years of P. G. Wodehouse with his very first novel.'What a mad thing to go and do. Jolly sporting, though.'Suspicion abounds at St Austin's School when two silver trophies, or 'pots', are stolen from the cricket pavilion. Jim Thomson, a talented sportsman who due to an unfortunate series of coincidences could be thought to be the burglar, resolves to clear his name. Featuring a man from Scotland Yard, chases through the woods and an exasperated headmaster, Wodehouse's first novel is a paean to his beloved, idyllic late Victorian schooldays, punctuated by bouts of gentlemanly sport and comic escapades. All the hallmarks of what makes Wodehouse the greatest comic writer of all are in evidence here, in a spiffing read for Wodehouse aficionados and the uninitiated alike.

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'A comic master' David Walliams'Wodehouse's idyllic world can never stale . . . A world for us to live and delight in' Evelyn WaughA veritable feast of comedy awaits with this delightful collection of Wodehouse stories featuring the infamous Bertie Wooster and everyone's favourite gentleman's gentleman, Jeeves.Witness the iconic first meeting of Bertie and Jeeves and follow them as they navigate the endless scrapes that the hapless Bertie lands them in. Meet the fearsome and meddling Aunt Agatha - who would like nothing more than to see Bertie settle down - and Bingo Little - Bertie's insatiable friend who has fallen head-over-heels for seven different girls. Specially selected and introduced by Wodehouse himself - and containing the timeless classics Carry On, Jeeves, The Inimitable Jeeves and Very Good, Jeeves - there's something for everyone in this omnibus.

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A P.G Wodehouse novelIf you come into a lot of money, life becomes easier, right?No, wrong - at least for Sally Nicholas, whose generosity of spirit immediately runs into all the slings and arrows outrageous fortune can send. Her handsome fiance turns out not to be all he seems - and then there is the show he's written, which Sally puts on in the theatre. No, in this delightful early novel from the master of Englsih comedy, life is not straightforward at all.But waiting in the wings is Ginger Kemp, who really does adore her, seems to make a hash of everything he tries and yet is always ready to try something else. If money becomes a problem, perhaps Ginger will provide a solution.

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'A lifelong treat' Simon Garfield, EsquireA P.G. Wodehouse novelJoey Cooley is a golden-curled child film star, the idol of American motherhood. Reginald, Third Earl of Havershot, is a boxing blue on a mission to save his wayward cousin from the fleshpots of Hollywood. Both are under anaesthetic at the dentists when something strange happens - and their identities are swapped in the ether.Suddenly Joey can use his six-foot frame to get his own back on his Hollywood persecutors. But Reggie has to endure everything Joey had to put up with in the horrible life of a child star - including kidnap.Laughing Gas is Wodehouse's brilliantly funny take on the 'If I were you' theme - a wry look at the dangers of getting what you wish for in the movie business and beyond.

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A P.G. Wodehouse novelLady Maud, the spirited young daughter of the Earl of Marshmoreton, is confined to her home, Belpher Castle in Hampshire, under aunt's orders because of an unfortunate infatuation. Enter our hero, George Bevan, an American who writes songs for musicals and is so smitten with Maud that he descends on Hampshire's rolling acres to see off his rival and claim her heart. Meanwhile, in the great Wodehousian tradition, the Earl of Marshmoreton just wants a quiet life pottering in his garden, supported by his portly butler Keggs and free from the demands of his bossy sister and his silly-ass son.It is a sunny story which involves misunderstandings, butlers and gentle hearts torn asunder only to be reunited at last. This delightful novel which was twice filmed (once as a musical starring Fred Astaire) has all the wit and lightness of touch that we expect from the great comic writer.

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A P.G. Wodehouse novelSeize this wonderful chance to embark on a Wodehousian voyage on the luxurious liner S.S. Atlantic - in the company of Monty Bodkin, whose passion for Gertrude Butterwick knows no bounds (except those set by the wild-at-heart Hollywood starlet Lotus Blossom and her pet alligator). Also aboard are a movie mogul, the centre-forward for the All-England ladies hockey team and the two Tennyson brothers (one of whom has been mistaken for the late poet laureate and given a fat movie contract...). Also a chatty steward, and a mouse doll in which all manner of things can be hidden. This hilarious comic novel is Wodehouse at full sail - a voyage of pure delight.

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'P.G. Wodehouse should be prescribed to treat depression. Cheaper, more effective than Valium and far, far more addictive' Olivia Williams'P.G. Wodehouse remains the greatest chronicler of a certain kind of Englishness, that no one else has ever captured quite so sharply or with quite so much wit and affection' Julian Fellowes _____________________________________'Without at least one impostor on the premises, Blandings Castle is never itself'Welcome to the world of the delightfully dotty Lord Emsworth, his bone-headed younger son and his long-suffering secretary.Having returned home with a valuable Egyptian amulet, Lord Emsworth finds his home contains not one but two imposters intent on taking it off his hands. But with no real sense of how the amulet came to be in his pocket in the first place, things get a lot more complicated very quickly...

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'Wodehouse is so utterly, properly, simply funny' Adele Parks'Line for line, no other author brings me as much pleasure' Joe Dunthorne--'I like that young man. He is sound on pigs. He has his head screwed on the right way.'The Empress of Blandings, prize-winning pig and all-consuming passion of Clarence, Ninth Earl of Emsworth, has disappeared.Blandings Castle is in uproar and there are suspects a-plenty - from the scandalous memoirist Galahad Threepwood to the Efficient Baxter, and the chilling former secretary to Lord Emsworth. Even Beach the Butler seems deeply embroiled. And what of Sir Gregory Parsloe-Parsloe, Clarence's arch-rival and neighbour, whose own pig competes with the Empress for local glory?With the castle full or imposters and deception around every corner, how will the Earl ever get to the bottom of the disappearance of the castle's most precious occupant?

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Bertie may be in danger of having his spine severed in five places by that jealous gorilla G. D'Arcy (Stilton) Cheesewright, but, as Jeeves insists, the priorities still have to be observed. And so, thanks to Jeeves, they are throughout this bumper volume, whatever mayhem may be loosed upon the befuddled head and generous heart of Bertram Wilberforce Wooster. Gathered in this volume are three of Wodehouse's hilarious Jeeves and Wooster novels: Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit, Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves and Jeeves in the Offing.

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P. G. Wodehouse (1881-1975) is widely regarded as the greatest comic writer of the 20th century. Wodehouse wrote more than 70 novels and 200 short stories, creating numerous much-loved characters - the inimitable Jeeves and Wooster, Lord Emsworth and his beloved Empress of Blandings, Mr Mulliner, Ukridge, and Psmith. His humorous articles were published in more than 80 magazines, including Punch, over six decades. He was also a highly successful music lyricist, once with over five musicals running on Broadway simultaneously. P.G. Wodehouse was awarded the Mark Twain Prize for 'an outstanding and lasting contribution to the happiness of the world'.

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When O'Hara and Moriarty, two boys at Wrykyn School, tar and feather the statue of a pompous local MP, O'Hara mislays at the scene of their crime a tiny gold bat borrowed from Trevor, captain of the school cricket team. The plot revolves around the fate of this bat and attempts to retrieve it, but the real focus of the novel is a vivid portrayal of school life. Though the setting is an English public school in the years before World War 1, so sharp is Wodehouse's ear for the way children talk that everyone will recognise familiar characters and situations, whatever their place of education.

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Lord Emsworth's prized pig, the Empress of Blandings, is at the centre of Wodehouse's hilarious tale of mistaken identity, the triumph of young love, and general mayhem among the twits at Blandings Castle.

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A Blandings novelCan the Empress of Blandings win the Fat Pigs class at the Shropshire Show for the third year running? Galahad Threepwood, Beach the butler and others have put their shirt on this, and for Lord Emsworth it will be paradise on earth. But a substantial obstacle lurks in the way: Queen of Matchingham, the new sow of Sir Gregory Parsloe Bart. Galahad knows this pretender to the crown must be pignapped. But can the Empress in turn avoid a similar fate?In this classic Blandings novel, pigs rise above their bulk to vanish and reappear in the most unlikely places, while young lovers are crossed and recrossed in every room in Blandings Castle.

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'A cavalcade of perfect joy' Caitlin Moran 'There are periods when I'm not up to the journey, when hope is too much to ask for and I am only fit for ... cowering under the covers with P. G. Wodehouse' Cathy Rentzenbrink_____________________________________'There are moments, Jeeves, when one asks oneself, "Do trousers matter?"' 'The mood will pass, sir.' Aunt Dahlia has tasked Bertie with purloining an antique cow creamer from Totleigh Towers. In order to do so, Jeeves hatches a scheme whereby Bertie must charm the droopy and altogether unappealing Madeline and face the wrath of would-be dictator Roderick Spode. Though the prospect fills him with dread, when duty calls, Bertie will answer, for Aunt Dahlia will not be denied. In a plot that swiftly becomes rife with mishaps, it is Jeeves who must extract his master from trouble. Again.

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_________________________________________'If comedy is your thing, it's hard to match PG Wodehouse and his classic characters Jeeves and Bertie Wooster for hilarious farce.' Irish Daily Mail'P.G. Wodehouse wrote the best English comic novels of the century' Sebastian Faulks'Heaven is Right Ho, Jeeves' Hugh Johnson'Jeeves, I'm engaged.''I hope you will be very happy, sir.''Don't be an ass. I'm engaged to Miss Bassett.'Bertie is feeling most put out when he finds that his friend Gussie is seeking relationship advice from Jeeves. Meanwhile Aunt Dahlia has asked Bertie to present awards at a school prize-giving ceremony. In a stroke of genius, Bertie realises he can kill two birds with one stone, palming off his prize-giving duties to Gussie by assuring him that the object of his affections will be there.Several terrible misunderstandings later and facing chaos, Bertie turns, yet again, to Jeeves who swiftly and ingeniously saves the day._________________________________________'Sublime comic genius' Ben Elton'A cavalcade of perfect joy' Caitlin Moran'Sunlit perfection... Bask in its warmth and splendour' Stephen Fry'The greatest chronicler of a certain kind of Englishness' Julian Fellowes

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Pelham Grenville Wodehouse (always known as Plum') wrote about seventy novels and some three hundred short stories over seventy-three years. He is widely recognised as the greatest 20th-century writer of humour in the English language.Perhaps best known for the escapades of Bertie Wooster and Jeeves, Wodehouse also created the world of Blandings Castle, home to Lord Emsworth and his cherished pig, the Empress of Blandings. His stories include gems concerning the irrepressible and disreputable Ukridge; Psmith, the elegant socialist; the ever-so-slightly-unscrupulous Fifth Earl of Ickenham, better known as Uncle Fred; and those related by Mr Mulliner, the charming raconteur of The Angler's Rest, and the Oldest Member at the Golf Club.In 1936 he was awarded the Mark Twain Prize for having made an outstanding and lasting contribution to the happiness of the world'. He was made a Doctor of Letters by Oxford University in 1939 and in 1975, aged ninety-three, he was knighte

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This early novel, written in collaboration with a friend, is a fascinating curiosity which suggests that Wodehouse might have become a very different, experimental sort of writer, had he continued to write in the same vein.Using multiple narrators, playing with literary stereotypes and identities, it tells the story of an aspiring young writer, James Orlebar Cloyster, prepared to do almost anything, first for success and then for gratification. By making Cloyster a mild, affable young man of the sort so familiar in his later novels, Wodehouse creates a comic disparity between the character’s lofty professions of virtue and his unscrupulous behaviour. As the story progresses, we realise that he is not unusual: all the main characters are unscrupulous in one way or another, ready to cheat and lie in pursuit of their ends, hence the title of the book.Not George Washington contains many fine scenes, and Cloyster’s narrative displays the calm mastery of story-telling Wodehouse had already made his own. If awkwardly executed, it is cleverly plotted, springing several surprises along the way. Clearly autobiographical in origin, it also invites readers to reflect on the nature of talent, fame, failure and success, villainy and honour - themes which continued to recur in the author’s work for another sixty years.

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A classic musical comedy plot turned into a novel, The Prince and Betty is the story of a man who gives up everything for his girl. Fortunately, she chances to be the step-daughter of a millionaire. John Maude and Betty Silver are in love, but when John turns out to be heir to the principality of Mervo, a small Mediterranean island not a thousand miles from Monte Carlo, he finds himself ensnared in the establishment of a new casino on the island, much to his beloved’s high-minded disgust. She leaves him and takes a job with an American family in London; he abandons his post to follow her. Eventually their misunderstandings are disentangled: the pair are reunited, betrothed and bound for a new life in the United States. And so it is that, in the process of telling their story, published early in his career, Wodehouse constructs the critique of Europe versus America, privilege versus enterprise, decadence versus adventure, which was to underpin many of his later tales.

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P.G. Wodehouse was, by common consent, the most brilliant writer of English comedy in the 20th century, equally celebrated on both sides of the Atlantic. He achieved the unusual distinction of combining the widest possible popularity with the highest literary standards, attracting both the devotion of readers and the respect of his peers from Hilaire Belloc to Graham Greene. Several of his characters have already entered popular mythology. This anthology includes two novels, fourteen short stories and extracts from Wodehouse's autobiography.The Code of the Woosters was written in 1938 when Wodehouse was at the height of his powers. The vintage plot involves Bertie Wooster attempting to steal a cream jug from a country house at the behest of his aunt Dahlia - or, as Bertiehimself puts it, 'the sinister affair of Gussie Fink-Nottle, Madeleine Bassett, old Pop bassett, Stiffy Byng, the Rev H.P. ('Stinker') Pinker, the eighteenth-century cow-creamer and the small, brown, leather-covered notebook.' The outcome is a dazzlingly intricate plot and a wonderfully satisfying farce.Uncle Fred in the Springtime, published in 1939, brings one of the author's favourite characters, Uncle Fred aka Lord Ickenham, to his most celebrated comic location, Blandings Castle, where the dastardly Duke of Dunstable is again attempting to steal Lord Emsworth's prize pig. Called in to thwart the duke, Uncle Fred poses as pompous 'looney-doctor' Sir Roderick Glossop, with complicated results. The short stories feature all Wodehouse's most famous creations - Jeeves and Wooster, Ukridge, Bingo Little, Mr Mulliner, the Earls of Emsworth and Ickenham. Finally, extracts from Over Seventy, a memoir as amusing and beautifully written as the novels, offer an insight into the attitudes and working habits of a very private man.

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Originally published as a serial in Chums under the pseudonym of Basil Windham, The Luck Stone is thoroughly Wodehouse with his trademark sticky situations, quirky characters, sly humour and wit, and of course, his renowned prose. All written in the form of a letter to a friend, this dark and suspenseful plot will never fail to disappoint

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The vintage plot concerns a Gainsborough miniature, a mouldering country house, an overweight solicitor, a fortune-hunter, a butler who isn't a butler, an American corporate lawyer and his kleptomaniac sister; but the heart of the story - in every sense - concerns Jerry West and his determined pursuit of air hostess Jane Hunnicutt, the eponymous Girl in Blue. When Jane unexpectedly becomes a millionairess, Jerry despairs of wooing her, but the sun never goes behind a cloud for long in Wodehouse: Jerry gets his Jane in the end, but only after a series of trials which raise the comic stakes to the author's highest level.

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It wasn't Archie's fault, really. It's true he went to America and fell in love with Lucille, the daughter of a millionaire hotel proprietor . . . and if he did marry her -- well, what else was there to do? From his point of view, the whole thing was a thoroughly good egg; but Mr. Brewster, his father-in-law, thought differently, Archie had neither money nor occupation, which was distasteful in the eyes of the industrious Mr. Brewster; but the real bar was the fact that he had once adversely criticized one of his hotels. Archie did his best to heal the breach; but, being something of an ass, genus priceless, he found it almost beyond his powers to placate the "man-eating fish" whom Providence had given him as a father-in-law. . . .

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When Bill Bannister meets Dr Sally Smith, love blossoms immediately. Unfortunately there is just the small problem of Lottie Higginbotham, former actress, serial bride and human fireball, with whom Bill is already involved.The well-meaning interference of Bill's old friend, Squiffy Tidmouth, once married to Lottie, only complicates matters further, until everything is straightened out in a series of comic encounters at Bill's ancestral home and everyone lives happily ever after.

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Not-so-fresh off the tramp steamer from America, Sam Shotter settles in the sleepy suburb of Valley Fields. His pastoral peace is short-lived, however, when Soapy Molloy, Dolly the Dip, and Chimp Twist arrive on the scene looking for two million dollars they seem to have mislaid in the vicinity. Not only does Sam discover he's living right bang next door to the girl of his dreams, but he's sitting, rather embarrassingly, on a goldmine. Some rather superior sleuthing will be required.

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Although the story of Uncle Dynamite concerns Bill Oakshott's struggle to find ways of getting his girl while financing his inheritance at Ashenden Manor, the real hero of the book is Frederick Altamont Cornwallis, fifth Earl of Ickenham. This noble lord describes himself as 'one of the hottest earls that ever donned a coronet' and he was also one of his creator's favourite characters, featuring in three other novels. Lord Ickenham sees it as his mission to bring a little joy into the lives of others, and on this occasion he surpasses himself.

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