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Comic novel
A comic novel is a work of fiction in which the writer seeks to amuse the reader, sometimes with subtlety and as part of a carefully woven narrative; sometimes, above all other considerations.
One of the most notable British comic novelists is P. G. Wodehouse, whose work follows on from that of...
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Bridget Jones's Diary
Bridget Jones's Diary is a 1996 novel by Helen Fielding. Written in the form of a personal diary, the novel chronicles a year in the life of Bridget Jones, a thirty-something single working woman living in London. She writes (often humorously) about...
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Date of first publication:
- 1996
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So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish
So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish (1984, ISBN 0-345-39183-7) is the fourth book of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series written by Douglas Adams. Its title is the message left by the dolphins when they departed Planet Earth just before it...
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Date of first publication:
- 1984
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Good Omens
Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch (1990) is a World Fantasy Award nominated novel written in collaboration between Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.
The book is a comedy and a quasi-parody of the 1976 film The Omen ...
Date of first publication:
- May 1, 1990
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The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul
The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul is a 1988 humorous fantasy detective novel by Douglas Adams. It is the second book by Adams featuring private detective Dirk Gently, the first being Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency. The title is a phrase...
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Date of first publication:
- Oct 10, 1988
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Adventures of Wim
Adventures of Wim or Whim is a book by George Cockcroft, written under the pen name Luke Rhinehart. It was published (as Adventures of Wim) in 1986, and was sold as "The sequel, well almost, to The Dice Man". This version is no longer in print. A ...
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Laughing Gas
Laughing Gas is a comic novel by P.G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on September 25, 1936 by Herbert Jenkins, London, and in the United States on December 4, 1936 by Doubleday Doran, New York. It is set in Hollywood in the early...
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Date of first publication:
- Sep 25, 1936
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The British Museum Is Falling Down
The British Museum Is Falling Down (1965) is a comic novel by British author David Lodge about a 25-year-old poverty-stricken student of English literature who, rather than work on his thesis (entitled "The Structure of Long Sentences in Three...
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Date of first publication:
- 1965
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I Am a Cat
I Am a Cat (吾輩は猫である, Wagahai wa neko de aru) is a satirical novel written in 1905-1906 by the Japanese author Natsume Sōseki.
I Am a Cat is a satire on Japanese society during the Meiji Period. Among its major themes are the period's uneasy mix of...
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The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is the title of the first of five books in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy comedy science fiction series by Douglas Adams. The novel is an adaptation of the first four parts of Adams's radio series of the...
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Date of first publication:
- Oct 12, 1979
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Something Fresh
Something Fresh is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse. The story first appeared as a serial in the Saturday Evening Post between June 26 and August 14, 1915. It was first published as a book in the United States, by D. Appleton and Company on September 3,...
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Date of first publication:
- Sep 16, 1915
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Summer Lightning
Summer Lightning is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the U.S. on 1 July 1929 by Doubleday Doran, New York, under the title Fish Preferred, and in the UK on 19 July 1929 by Herbert Jenkins, London.
It forms part of the Blandings Castle...
Date of first publication:
- Jul 19, 1929
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The Dalkey Archive
The Dalkey Archive is a novel by the Irish writer Flann O'Brien. It is his fifth and final novel, published in 1964, two years before his death. It features a mad scientist, De Selby, who tries to destroy the world by removing all the oxygen from...
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Winter Kills
Winter Kills, is a black comic novel exploring the assassination of a U.S. President. The novel parallels the real life assassination of John F. Kennedy and the various conspiracy theories that surround the event.
Before the main story of the novel...
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Date of first publication:
- May 1974
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Brewster's Millions
Brewster's Millions is a novel written by George Barr McCutcheon in 1902, originally under the pseudonym of Richard Greaves. It was adapted into a play in 1906, which opened at the Globe Theatre (now called the Gielgud Theatre), and the novel or...
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Date of first publication:
- 1902
The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby
Nicholas Nickleby; or, The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby is a comic novel by Charles Dickens. Originally published as a serial from 1838 to 1839, it was Dickens' third novel.
The lengthy novel centres around the life and adventures of...
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Date written:
- 1838
Date of first publication:
- 1838
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He Died With A Felafel In His Hand
He Died with a Felafel in His Hand is a novel by John Birmingham, first published in 1994 by The Yellow Press (ISBN 1-875989-21-8). The story consists of a collection of colourful anecdotes about living in share houses in Brisbane and other cities...
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Date of first publication:
- 1994
The Third Policeman
The Third Policeman is a novel by Irish author Brian O'Nolan, writing under the pseudonym Flann O'Brien. It was written between 1939 and 1940, but after it initially failed to find a publisher, the author withdrew the manuscript from circulation and...
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Date of first publication:
- 1967
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Monsignor Quixote
Monsignor Quixote is a novel by Graham Greene, published in 1982. The book is a pastiche of the classic Spanish novel Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes with many moments of hilarious comedy, but also offers reflection on matters such as life after...
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Date of first publication:
- Sep 27, 1982
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Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason
Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason is a 1999 novel by Helen Fielding, a sequel to her popular Bridget Jones's Diary. It chronicles Bridget Jones's adventures after she begins to suspect that her boyfriend, Mark Darcy, is falling for a rich young...
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Date of first publication:
- 1999
Leave it to Psmith
Leave it to Psmith is a comic novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on November 30, 1923 by Herbert Jenkins, London, and in the United States on March 14, 1924 by George H. Doran, New York. It had previously been serialised...
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Date of first publication:
- Nov 30, 1923
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Coyote Blue
Coyote Blue is the second novel by Christopher Moore, published in 1994.
The plot concerns a salesman in Santa Barbara, California named Sam Hunter (a Crow Indian born Samson Hunts Alone) who, as a teenager, fled his home when he was involved in the...
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Date of first publication:
- Mar 4, 1994
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Incompetence
Incompetence is a dystopian comedy novel by Red Dwarf co-creator Rob Grant, first published in 2003 with the tag line is "Bad is the new Good". It is a murder mystery and political thriller set in a near-future federal Europe where no-one can be ...
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Date of first publication:
- 2003
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Three Men on the Bummel
Three Men on the Bummel (also known as Three Men on Wheels) is a humorous novel by Jerome K. Jerome. It was published in 1900, eleven years after his most famous work, Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog).
The sequel brings back the three...
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Porterhouse Blue
Porterhouse Blue is a novel written by Tom Sharpe, first published in 1974. There was a Channel 4 TV series in 1987 based on the novel, adapted by Malcolm Bradbury. The novel itself has a sequel, Grantchester Grind, but Porterhouse Blue has a stand...
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Fletch Won
Fletch Won is the eighth book in the Fletch series of mystery/comedy novels written by Gregory Mcdonald, and was published in 1985. The story is set before the first seven books in the series, and follows the early days of the title character's...
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Date of first publication:
- Sep 19, 1985
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Jill the Reckless
Jill The Reckless is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the U.S. on October 11, 1920 by George H. Doran, New York (under the title The Little Warrior), and in the U.K. by Herbert Jenkins, London, on July 4 1921. It was serialised in...
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Palomita Blanca
Palomita Blanca (Spanish for "Little White Dove") is a 1971 novel written by Enrique Lafourcade. More than fifty editions (including "reprintings") have been published, making the novel the most widely sold novel in the history of Chilean literary...
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Date of first publication:
- 1971
The Pothunters
The Pothunters is a 1902 novel by P. G. Wodehouse. It was Wodehouse's first published novel, and the first of several school stories, this one set at the fictional public school of St. Austin's.
First edition copies of the book in good condition are...
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Date of first publication:
- Sep 18, 1902
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A Prefect's Uncle
A Prefect's Uncle is an early novel by P.G. Wodehouse.
The action of the novel takes place at the fictional "Beckford College", a private school for boys; the title alludes to the arrival at the school of a mischievous young boy called Farnie, who...
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Date of first publication:
- Sep 11, 1903
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Colony
Colony was the first novel written by Rob Grant outside the Red Dwarf series. First published in 2000 by Viking Press in the United Kingdom it stays within the comedy, science fiction genre. The narrative is set on a spaceship sent on a voyage to...
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Date of first publication:
- Nov 2, 2000
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Red Dwarf: Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers
Red Dwarf: Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers is a best-selling science fiction comedy novel by Grant Naylor, the collective name for Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, co-creators and writers of the Red Dwarf television series, on which the novel is based....
Date of first publication:
- Nov 2, 1989
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What a Piece of Work I Am
What A Piece of Work I Am (A Confabulation) is a novel by Eric Kraft. It is part of his ongoing project of interconnected fiction "The Personal History, Adventures, Experiences and Observations of Peter Leroy." The novel is narrated by Leroy, but...
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Heavy Weather
Heavy Weather is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the U.S. on July 28, 1933 by Little, Brown and Company, Boston, and in the U.K. on August 10, 1933 by Herbert Jenkins, London.
It is part of the Blandings Castle series of tales, the...
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Date of first publication:
- Jul 28, 1933
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Mike
Mike is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published on 15 September 1909 by Adam & Charles Black, London. The story first appeared in the magazine The Captain, in two separate parts, collected together in the original version of the book; the first...
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Date of first publication:
- Sep 15, 1909
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Psmith in the City
Psmith in the City is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published on September 23, 1910 by Adam & Charles Black, London. The story was originally released as a serial in The Captain magazine, between October 1908 and March 1909, under the title The...
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Date of first publication:
- Sep 23, 1910
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Psmith, Journalist
Psmith, Journalist is a novel by P.G. Wodehouse, first released in the U.K. as a serial in the magazine The Captain in 1909. It was then published, in substantially rewritten form, under the title The Prince and Betty by W.J.Watt and Co., New York...
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Date of first publication:
- Sep 29, 1915
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Love Among the Chickens
Love Among the Chickens is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published as a book in the U.K. in June 1906 by George Newnes, London, and in the U.S. by Circle Publishing, New York on May 11, 1909, having earlier appeared there as a serial in Circle...
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Date of first publication:
- Jun 1906
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The Prince and Betty
The Prince and Betty is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse. Originally released as a serial in early 1912, it appeared in the famous Strand Magazine in the United Kingdom and in Ainslee's in the United States; it was published in book form, in the UK only,...
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Date of first publication:
- May 1, 1912
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The Little Nugget
The Little Nugget is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the U.K. on August 28, 1913 by Methuen & Co, London, and in the U.S. on February 10, 1914 by W.J. Watt and Co., New York. The story had previously appeared as a serial, in the UK in...
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Date of first publication:
- Aug 28, 1913
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The Pirates! in an Adventure with Whaling
The Pirates! in an Adventure with Whaling (also known as The Pirates! In an Adventure with Ahab) is the second book by Gideon Defoe, published in 2005 by The Orion Publishing Group.
After The Pirates! in an Adventure with Scientists, the pirates...
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Date of first publication:
- Sep 1, 2005
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Good as Gold
Good as Gold is a 1979 novel by Joseph Heller, author of Catch-22.
Bruce Gold, a Jewish, middle-aged university English professor and author of many unread, seminal articles in small journals, residing in Manhattan, is offered the chance for success...
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Sam the Sudden
Sam the Sudden is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the U.K. on 15 October 1925 by Methuen & Co., London, and in the U.S. on 6 November 1925 by George H. Doran, New York, under the title Sam in the Suburbs. The story had previously been...
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Date of first publication:
- Oct 15, 1925
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Uncle Fred in the Springtime
Uncle Fred in the Springtime is a novel by P.G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on August 18, 1939 by Doubleday Doran, New York, and in the United Kingdom on August 25 1939 by Herbert Jenkins, London.
It is set at the idyllic...
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Date of first publication:
- Aug 18, 1939
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Full Moon
Full Moon is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States by Doubleday & Company on May 22, 1947, and in the United Kingdom by Herbert Jenkins on October 17 1947. It is the sixth full-length novel to be set at the beautiful but...
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Date of first publication:
- May 22, 1947
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Pigs Have Wings
Pigs Have Wings is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, which first appeared as a serial in Collier's Weekly between August 16 and September 20, 1952. It was first published as a book in the United States on October 16, 1952 by Doubleday & Company, New York,...
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Date of first publication:
- Oct 16, 1952
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Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit
Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on October 15, 1954 by Herbert Jenkins, London and in the United States on February 23, 1955 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York, under the title...
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Date of first publication:
- Oct 15, 1954
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Service With a Smile
Service With a Smile is a novel by P.G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on October 15, 1961 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York, and in the United Kingdom on August 17, 1962 by Herbert Jenkins, London. It is the eighth full-length...
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Date of first publication:
- Oct 15, 1961
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How to Survive a Robot Uprising
How to Survive a Robot Uprising: Tips on Defending Yourself Against the Coming Rebellion is a semi-satirical book by Daniel Wilson published in November 2005.
The book gives tongue-in-cheek advice on how one can survive in the event that robots...
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Date of first publication:
- Nov 1, 2005
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Inside Mr. Enderby
Inside Mr Enderby is a the first volume of the Enderby series, a quartet of comic novels by the British author Anthony Burgess.
The book was first published in 1963 in London by William Heinemann under the pseudonym Joseph Kell. The series began in...
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Date of first publication:
- 1963
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Enderby Outside
Enderby Outside, first published in 1968 in London by William Heinemann, is the second volume in the Enderby series of comic novels by Anthony Burgess.
After a failed suicide attempt at the very end of Inside Mr. Enderby, the second novel opens with...
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Date of first publication:
- May 1968
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Manalive
Manalive (1912) is a book by G. K. Chesterton detailing a popular theme both in his own philosophy, and in Christianity, of the 'holy fool', such as in Dostoevsky's The Idiot and Cervantes' Don Quixote.
This is a book in two parts. The first, “The...
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Date of first publication:
- 1912
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Love Monkey
Love Monkey is a novel by Kyle Smith published in 2004, and is the basis for the 2006 CBS show of the same name.
Love Monkey is a novel about a man named Tom Farrell who is in his thirties and is living in the New York City of 2001 (pre, during and...
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Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House
Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House is a 1946 Comedy novel written by Eric Hodgins and illustrated by William Steig, describing the vicissitudes of buying a new home. It originally appeared as a short story in the April 1946 issue of Fortune...
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Date of first publication:
- 1946
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Bumageddon: The Final Pongflict
Bumageddon: The Final Pongflict (retitled Butt Wars: The Final Conflict in the U.S.) is the final book in Andy Griffiths' Bum trilogy, following The Day My Bum Went Psycho and Zombie Bums from Uranus. The book details the events of a young boy...
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Date of first publication:
- Sep 1, 2005
Fripp
Fripp is a comedy novel by Miles Tredinnick. It tells the story of a young private investigator, Twyford Fripp, taking on his very first case in attempting to track down the missing wife of a Rear Admiral. It was published in 2001.
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Date of first publication:
- Jan 1, 2001
M*A*S*H: A Novel About Three Army Doctors
MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors, the original novel that inspired the film MASH and TV series M*A*S*H, was written by Richard Hooker, himself a former military surgeon, and was about a fictional U.S. Mobile Army Surgical Hospital in Korea...
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A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian
A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian is a novel by Marina Lewycka, first published in 2005 by Viking (Penguin Books).
The novel won the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize at the Hay literary festival, the Waverton Good Read Award 2005/6, and was...
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Date of first publication:
- Mar 31, 2005
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The Sterile Cuckoo
The Sterile Cuckoo, is the 1965 novel by John Nichols. It tells the story of a quirky young couple whose relationship deepens despite their differences. It was made into a movie by Alan J. Pakula.
The movie of the novel was adapted by Alvin Sargent....
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Date of first publication:
- 1965
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Fame, Glory, and Other Things on My To Do List
Fame, Glory, and Other Things on My To Do List is a high school romantic comedy by Janette Rallison.
The story takes place in the small town of Three Forks, New Mexico. Jessica, a totally ditzy blonde and a junior at Three Forks High, meets a boy...
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Date of first publication:
- Sep 2005
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Fletch
Fletch is a 1974 mystery novel by Gregory Mcdonald, the first in a series featuring the character Irwin Maurice Fletcher.
In the first novel, Fletch is working as a reporter. Over the course of the series, however, he acquires a moderate fortune and...
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Date of first publication:
- 1974
