Humorous Fiction

Will is thirty-six, comfortable and child-free. And he's discovered a brilliant new way of meeting women - through single-parent groups.

Marcus is twelve and a little bit nerdish: he's got the kind of mother who made him listen to Joni Mitchell rather than Nirvana.

Perhaps they can help each other out a little bit, and both can start to act their age.

In a provincial university town, Caro Grimstone, a dissatisfied faculty wife, becomes the unwilling accomplice to her husband Alan's ambitions. When she volunteers to read to a blind, esteemed anthropologist in a nursing home, Alan seizes the opportunity to steal his papers - research that could both advance his reputation while refuting the findings of a respected colleague.

A delightful comedy of manners with a touch of mystery, An Academic Question is prime Barbara Pym territory.

It all begins with a hot air balloon trip and three bottles of champagne. Allan and Julius are ready for some spectacular views, but they’re not expecting to land in the sea and be rescued by a North Korean ship. Soon Allan and Julius are at the centre of a complex diplomatic crisis involving world figures from the Swedish foreign minister to Angela Merkel and President Trump. Things are about to get very complicated…

Evie Lang's life is in shambles. On the heels of losing her beloved aunt, she's unceremoniously fired from her poetry professorship. Lacking income and inspiration, she has no idea how to move forward - until hope arrives in the form of a surprising letter.

Auntie Hảo has left her house in San Francisco to Evie. The catch? To inherit, she must go on a pre-arranged matchmaking tour in Việt Nam.

Adam Quyền has a chip on his shoulder. He's working for his sister's elite matchmaking company and desperate to prove himself, so when she challenges him to join the first tour, he reluctantly agrees.

Adam thinks Evie is chaotic and unpredictable. Evie thinks Adam is grumpy and uptight. But their chemistry is undeniable, their animosity charged with attraction. Will they find their perfect match in the last place they thought to look?

People pass the word only to those they trust most: Adjustment Day is coming. They've been reading a mysterious blue-black book and memorising its directives. They are ready for the reckoning.

In this ingeniously comic work, Chuck Palahniuk's first novel in four years, he does what he does best: skewer the absurdities in our society. Smug, geriatric politicians hatch a nasty fate for the burgeoning population of young males; working-class men dream of burying the elites; and professors propound theories that offer students only the bleakest future. When it arrives, Adjustment Day inaugurates a new Disunited States of America.

Sequel to: 'Adrian Mole: The Wilderness Years' (3958). Now a celebrity chef and single parent, Mole returns to Leicester to vote for Dr Pandora Braithwaite, Labour Party candidate and love of his young life. Book 5 of the series.

Adrian Mole, now 38 and almost officially middle-aged, is working in an antiquarian bookshop. Despite finding solace in a literary life Adrian is worried; about whether or not he can get a refund on his holiday to Cyprus; about his engagement to Marigold Flowers; and about his failure to find a celebrity speaker for his writing group's Christmas dinner. Book 6 of the series.

When we last heard from Adrian, he had fallen in love with Daisy Flowers and they had embarked on a new life with their baby, Gracie. Fast-forward four years and Adrian's life is in turmoil again. Living in the Piggeries is far from ideal, middle age is beckoning and the ups and downs of parenthood are still plaguing him. Book 8 of the series.

Adrian is now 23½. We follow the misunderstood genius of Middle England on a further stretch of his weary travels through the Valley of Rejection and Humiliation, in search of the sunny uplands of requited love and the publication of his novel. Book 4 of the series.

Alison Leonard's warm-hearted gentle comedy about the life and trials of a woman priest in a small Welsh town

When the Reverend Elaine Metcalfe is inducted as the vicar of Pontvale, she hopes the job will have more to it than lending out spare sets of keys. She soon discovers there's plenty of challenges in her new home - not least the daily needs of her parishioners, which range from community theatre productions, arranging a wedding and a funeral for the same day, and local scandal over the vicar's culottes.

On top of that, the Rev Metcalfe is also dealing with a local man who may be hearing angels, her ex-husband's opinions of the vicar's green activism, and church superiors watching her every move. Moving, warm and full of characters, this sweet series is perfect for fans of The Vicar of Dibley.


Cast
Christine Pritchard - Rev Elaine Metcalfe
Sue Jones Davies - Sian
Hywel Morgan - Phil
Steve Hodson - Mr Hudson
Simon Harris - Gareth
Michael Povey - Rev Melvyn Johns
Jilly Bond - Christina
Manon Edwards - Gwen
Kristin Milward - Sheila
Clare Isaac - Tash
Rhodri Hugh - Bryn
Simon Ludders - Adam
Nia Davies - Puck
Dafydd Wyn Roberts - Ellis
Marilyn Le Conte - Josie
Sharon Morgan - Freda
Oliver Senton - Sergei / Colin / Tom


Originally broadcast on Radio 4:
23 February - 30 March 1995


Production credits
Written by Alison Leonard
Produced by Alison Hindell

Read by Marian Keyes and featuring an exclusive Q&A between Graham Norton and Marian Keyes.

Twenty-five years after the iconic, 1.5 million-copy bestseller Rachel's Holiday burst into our lives, Rachel's BACK!

Back in the long ago nineties, Rachel Walsh was a mess.

But a spell in rehab transformed everything. Life became very good, very quickly. These days, Rachel has love, family, a great job as an addiction counsellor, she even gardens. Her only bad habit is a fondness for expensive trainers.

But with the sudden reappearance of a man she'd once loved, her life wobbles.

She'd thought she was settled. Fixed forever. Is she about to discover that no matter what our age, everything can change?

Is it time to think again, Rachel?

Book 6 in the Walsh Family series.

With her cafe BallyGoBrunch flying and the door firmly closed on her relationship with boyfriend John, Aisling accepts an unexpected job offer and boards a business-class flight to New York in her best wrap dress and heels. As she finds her feet in the Big Apple, she throws herself into the dating game, grapples with 'always-on' work culture, forges and fights for new friendships and brings her good wedges to a party in the Hamptons, much to her friend, Sadhbh's, dismay. But catching up with family and friends on WhatsApp and email is not the same as sitting in Maguire's putting the world to rights over mini bottles of Pinot Greej and a shared bag of Taytos. And yet New York has so much to offer, not least in the fireman department . . .

Gary is a sweet and decent man. Only two things would improve his life - having children with his gorgeous wife Pauline, and a lower golf handicap. Both are unlikely.

Pauline is wondering how she ended up living in an ugly little house, driving a second-hand car and making a living dressing up as Tinkerbell. She's planning to leave Gary for a self-made carpet millionaire.

Findlay, the Carpet King of Scotland, wants to trade in his obese wife for a younger model. But if he goes for a divorce she'll take him to the cleaners. If only there was some way she could be made to disappear...

Lee, Gary's luckless brother, has botched one too many drug deals. Local crime overlord Ranta Campbell gives him one more job - one last chance to get it right. Lee's done some bad things - but murder?

When Gary gets smashed on the head by a golf ball and miraculously develops an absolutely perfect swing, everyone finds their fates rest on the final day of the Open Championship...

Is this the best worst day of her life?

Once, Grace Adams was poised for great things. Now, she barely attracts a second glance as she strides down the street carrying her daughter's sixteenth birthday cake.

But behind the scenes, Grace's life is in freefall. Her husband is divorcing her. Her daughter has banned her from her birthday party. And Grace has just abandoned her car in bumper-to-bumper traffic.

Because Grace Adams has finally had enough. She's sick of being overlooked and underappreciated, and she's particularly tired of being polite. She's about to set off on a journey to rediscover who she is, and confront the secret that has torn her family apart.

What is that secret? You're about to find out...

Maggie Walsh has always been the sensible member of the family. Happily married and with proper job she always does the right thing, until the day she leaves husband Garv runs away to Hollywood. On her voyage of discovery she realises what she really wants from her life and her marriage.

Book 3 in the Walsh Family series.

Meet Liz: all she wants is some peace and quiet so she can read a book with her cat Henry, love of her life, by her side. But trampling all over this dream is a group of wild things also known as Liz's family. And as if her family's demands (Where are the door keys? Are we made of plastic? Do 'ghost poos' really count?) weren't enough, Liz must also contend with the madness of parents, friends, bosses and at least one hovering nemesis. Are We Having Fun Yet? is a year in the life of one woman as she faces all the storms of modern life (babysitters, death, threadworms) on her epic quest for that holy grail: a moment to herself.

A summer cruise should be just the ticket for a few weeks of luxury and relaxation - but for the passengers and crew of the Empress of the Ocean, the sights of the Mediterranean are nothing compared to the excitement on board...

For bickering couple Albert and Maureen, the trip might prove a much-needed escape - or the final straw. Elegant Frances de la Mare is determined to hobnob with the right kind of people - but her penthouse suite proves lonelier than she ever imagined. Meanwhile, precocious twelve-year-old Oliver discovers that guidebooks don't teach you everything, sparks fly when the port lecturer finds himself upstaged by a popular author, dancers Bruce and Babs can't keep in step, and cruise expert Neville just wants someone to speak to.

For seventeen years Aunt Margaret has cared for niece Saskia who is now off to Canada for a year. With the help of an unexpected legacy Aunt Margaret decides to kick up her heels and have some fun!

Advised to live the quiet life Bertie and Jeeves head for the peace of Maiden Eggesford but they haven't reckoned on scheming Aunt Dahlia.

The year is 1969 and Jack Sheffield is a young teacher in need of a job. In a room full of twenty-nine other newly qualified teachers, he's overjoyed when he's appointed to Heather View Primary. Jack is excited to start his first year there and to begin shaping young minds in a beautiful new location on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales.

But Heather View isn't as idyllic as it first sounds. In fact, it looks more like a prison than a primary school. With less than adequate funding and a head teacher who doesn't seem to care, it's no easy task to give the kids the education they deserve. But Jack's determined to do just that. 

When Andie lands her dream job as a senior book publicist, she’s ready to take the world of New York publishing by storm.

Until her first day, when she discovers that her biggest author is Jack Carlson – the same Jack who ruined her life in university. Who she hasn’t spoken to in five years. Who is not only still infuriatingly hot but incredibly successful. And whose campaign she definitely cannot mess up, if she wants to keep her job.

To make matters even worse, the central part of this career-defining campaign is a month long book tour travelling across Europe.

But she will not lose this opportunity, especially not because of him. One month on tour with Jack Carlson, visiting some of the most romantic spots in Europe. Deep breath. She can do this.

In this collection of dark, funny and bizarre short stories, Alexei Sayle's characters are vividly, wryly - and occasionally disturbingly - portrayed. Their voices, and the stories they have to tell will remain in the mind for a long, long time. X rated, contains offensive language and explicit sex.

Sally Parker had a morbid fear of big social events and it was for this reason that she was crouching down low in the shoe section of her wardrobe...

Sally Parker is struggling to find the hero inside herself.
All she wants to do is lie down.
Her husband Frank has lost his business, their home and their savings, in one fell swoop. Their bank cards are being declined. The children have gone feral. And now the bailiffs are at the door.
What does an ordinary woman do when the bottom falls out?
Sally Parker is about to surprise everybody.
Most of all herself.

A life-affirming debut novel from one of Britain's most-loved comedians, Kevin Bridges - exploring dysfunctional friendships, family, and how to face your problems head on.

Declan Dolan has always wanted to be a writer, turning the ideas that spiral in his head into stories on the page. He longs to emulate his hometown hero, renowned writer and actor, James Cavani. Though their lives couldn't be more different, they have a lot more in common than they think.

With his pet labrador Hector and his best friend-turned-mentor Doof Doof by his side, Declan sets out to escape his world of binge-drinking, supermarket shelf-stacking and small-time gangsters. Meanwhile Cavani finds himself drawn back into this world that he thought he had already escaped.

Could it be that fate has a way of bringing two people together when they need it the most?

Min works at the BBC as an audio engineer, where she is struggling to replicate the sound of a heartbeat. At home, other matters of the heart are making a mockery of life as Min knows it.

Min has found herself the object of her lodger's affection. An internationally renowned opera singer she's nicknamed 'The Bloater', Min is disgusted and attracted to him in equal measure. But with a husband so invisible that she accidentally turns the lights off on him even when he's still in the room, Min can't quite bring herself to silence The Bloater's overtures.

Vain, materialistic, yet surprisingly tender, The Bloater is a sparklingly ironic comedy of manners for all flirtatious gossips who love to hate and hate to love.

Inside every hospital exists a world no outsider is allowed to see: a storm of malpractice, corruption, sex, drink and drop-dead exhaustion. But for first day junior doctors, their initiation into this world - the 'Killing Season' - is about to begin. A whistle-blowing despatch from the frontlines of hospital life, Jed Mercurio's Bodies takes us on a nerve-jangling journey through one junior doctor's loss of innocence, and his desperate, dangerous attempts to right his - and his colleagues'- wrongs.

Nora has been through enough break-ups to know she's the woman men date before they find their happy-ever-after. That's why Nora's sister has persuaded her to swap her desk in the city for a month's holiday in Sunshine Falls, North Carolina. It's a small town straight out of a romance novel, but instead of meeting sexy lumberjacks, handsome doctors or cute bartenders, Nora keeps bumping into...Charlie.

She's no heroine. He's no hero. So can they take a page out of an entirely different book?

Set over one sizzling August, BOOK LOVERS is the new chemistry-filled 'rivals to lovers' romcom from New York Times #1 bestseller Emily Henry

'If I've learned one thing,' the late, great Father Fehily used to say, 'it's that life, families and rugby balls don't always behave the way you want them to!' Looking at my life, I'd have to say, the dude wasn't wrong. My old man had been caught rigging a General Election. My old dear was about to become a seventy-year-old mother of six. And Honor was walking around in a yellow rain mac, telling everyone that the end of the world was coming. It was enough to drive a man to the brink.

The only simple thing in my life was my new job as the Head Coach of Presentation College Bray - which is saying something given that I had to try to turn a collection of jokers, chokers and forty-a-day smokers into a team capable of winning the school's first Leinster Schools Senior Cup in nearly ninety years. And while Father Fehily would have been spinning in his grave, I soon found myself falling in love - with the town I loathed so well.

The Larkin family descends upon Brittany in France. Like fish out of water, they find that things don't quite turn out their way: the weather is less than ideal, the food is awful and the hotel is in a bad state of repair. But things slowly improve as Pop manages to sweet-talk Mlle Dupont.

8.45 P.M. Realise there have been so many times in my life when have fantasised about going to a scan with Mark or Daniel: just not both at the same time.

Before motherhood, before marriage, Bridget Jones, with biological clock ticking very, very loudly, finds herself unexpectedly pregnant at the eleventh hour.

Her joyful pregnancy is dominated, however, by a crucial but terribly awkward question - who is the father? Mark Darcy: honourable, decent, notable human rights lawyer? Or Daniel Cleaver: charming, witty, notable fuckwit?

Book 4 in the Bridget Jones series.

Bridget Jones is everyone's favourite spinster. In her Diary she documents her struggles through the social minefield of her 30s and tries to weigh up the eternal question: Daniel Cleaver or Mark Darcy? She is supported through the whole process by four indispensable friends, Shazzer, Jude, Tom and a bottle of chardonnay.

Is it wrong to lie about your age when online dating? Does the Dalai Lama actually tweet or is it his assistant? Is technology now the fifth element? Or is that wood? Pondering these, and other modern dilemmas, Bridget Jones stumbles through the challenges of single-motherhood, tweeting, texting and redisovering her sexuality in what SOME people rudely and outdatedly call 'middle age'.

As the great James Bond said, 'History isn't kind to men who play God.' How right the dude ended up being. My secret double-life was finally catching up with me. Sorcha wanted a divorce. I was facing jail time for taking my orse out in a pub in Cork. And there was a very good chance that my sister-in-law's surrogate baby was actually mine?

One by one, all of the goys turned their backs on me. Then came an unexpected plot twist. From beyond the grave, Fr Fehily - the M and the Q to our Leinster Schools Senior Cup-winning team - sent us all on one final mission . . . To walk the Camino - or die trying! It's, like, double oh fock!

A retired widower has his quiet life turned upside down when he mysteriously comes into a large windfall

Julius Hutch has planned to spend his retirement years 'pottering' and worrying about his bills, but wakes one morning to discover a foreign merchant bank has put four million pounds into his account - and won't take it back. So Julius, a humble man, sets out to spend the money helping other people, and wooing Pauline, the local bank teller. Up against an enormous banking corporation and an unsavoury property developer, Julius soon discovers that rather than being crushed by these financial giants as he would have been in the past, he is rendered rather more delightfully impervious by his new-found wealth.

A wonderful comedy about family, late-in-life romance, environmentalism, and justice against faceless conglomerates, Capital Gains is written in letters, speeches and emails between friends, lovers, and enemies. Perhaps the little man may just triumph at last...

Israel (a vegetarian, Jewish, librarian) finds himself living in an old mobile library in Northern Ireland when his new job falls through: the library has been shut down and 15,000 books are missing. Israel wants to know where they are, and where can he get a decent cappuccino?

The mesmerising tale of a cat with nine lives, and a relationship as ancient as time itself and just as powerful.