Humorous fiction

Londonstani

‘Londonstani’, Gautam Malkani’s electrifying debut, reveals a Britain that has never before been explored in the novel: a country of young Asians and white boys (desis and goras) trying to work out a place for themselves in the shadow of the divergent cultures of their parents’ generation.

Mr Thundermug

The charming, funny and whimsical tale of Mr Thundermug, the baboon who miraculously speaks a very proper English. Along with a collection of lithographs, this outlandish tale will take readers by surprise.

The Gift

Problem: Best friends keep giving extremely generous giftsSolution: Give better ones in return

The Calligrapher

A gripping story of modern-day love and old-fashioned revenge. He is not quite as clever as he thinks he is. She is smarter than she seems.

Filthy English

These short stories mark the start of a brilliant and black literary career.

Dressing Up for the Carnival

A bestselling collection of short stories from the author of The Stone Diaries (winner of the Pulitzer prize) and Larry’s Party (winner of the Orange prize).

Happenstance

‘The beautiful irony of “Happenstance” is that its novels are both bound together and held apart by the strength of the marriage they describe.’ Rupert Christiansen, Harpers and Queen

The Fowler Family Business

‘One of the funniest and truest writers we have. No one understands England better than Meades.’ Stephen Fry

An inventively nasty, gruesomely comic paean to the sylvan heights of Forest Hill and Upper Norwood, a warped map of the death trade’s quotidian strangeness.

The Perfect Fool

“The Perfect Fool” charts the progress of a collection of misfits, spread across the wide open spaces of Arizona and the narrow streets of South London, all unwittingly caught up in a quest for the Holy Grail.

Slow Down Arthur, Stick to Thirty

The achingly funny and moving story of the dizzying highs and lows of growing up in the North of England at the height of New Wave.

A Celibate Season

In an original collaboration two award-winning authors, Carol Shields and Blanche Howard, have written an immensely enjoyable novel which give us both sides of a story about the breakdown of traditional roles, rules and communication in a marriage.

Plain and Normal

Mr Norris wants everyone to know that he is gay. The problem is, no one will believe him. His position isn’t helped by the fact that he is living with his ex-wife and that he has never had sex with a man. Plain and Normal is James Wilcox’s long awaited new novel.

Sort of Rich

The fourth novel in 4th Estate’s Wilcox revival, a revival which has been received with universal enthusiasm: ‘With a keen eye for the weirdness of ordinary lives and an easy style somewhere between Armistead Maupin and Ann Tyler, Wilcox looks set for similar success.’ GQ

The Man of the House

A funny, moving and insightful novel about dysfunctional families and our disaffected hero’s attempts to cope with the possibility of paternity.

Miss Undine’s Living Room

A brilliantly observed, hilarious and poignant social satire. Wilcox’s Tula Springs novels (there are six and characters overlap) have the narrative litheness of an Armistead Maupin and the piercing tragi-comic insights of Edith Wharton.

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