The Satsuma Complex

Product Information

Gary works as a solicitor of little talent and has a thing for drinking in the pub and eating Battenburg cake. When necessary, he also seems to be able to glean words of advice and wisdom from the local squirrels who tend to show up in times when a good talking to is required. The much loved comic proves adept at noirish fiction in a debut whose surrealist humour sets it apart' - Observer Bob Mortimer wins 2023 Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction with The Satsuma Complex

However new title will not feature Gary –the semi-autobiographical character of a disillusioned legal assistant – who was at the centre of the first. So many comedians have published novels this year that I have begun to wonder whether writing one is an assignment in a yet-to-be-broadcast episode of Taskmaster. Most of them have confirmed the axiom that comics can’t write memorable fiction: even the novels of master funnymen such as Eric Morecambe and Les Dawson did not burnish their reputations. Like Spike Milligan, Mortimer has managed to use a novel for his distinctive comedic voice’ – The Telegraph What do you expect when a comedian writes a murder mystery that has a man named Gary talking to squirrels and names dogs as Long Parsnips? Whatever you expect, the book beats that.There are dirty cops, a barista named Wayne who wears tight t-shirts to best show off his biceps and an eccentric neighbour Grace, and her dog Lassoo. And so begins Gary’s quest, through the estates and pie shops of South London, to finally bring some love and excitement into his unremarkable life… About the Author The conversations that Gary has with a squirrel in the park amused no end. The two lads supporting each other through the highs and not so highs of being a bloke today. Burke’s podcast, Where There’s A Will There’s A Wake, revolves around death and Mortimer said he’d like to die fighting a bear – or hit by an articulated lorry carrying Flumps.

To describe me as anonymous would be unfair but to notice me other than in passing would be a rarity"It’s a book written by British comedian and national treasure Bob Mortimer. Of course I wanted to read this. If you don’t know who Bob Mortimer is, go to YouTube. His “Would I Lie to You?” appearances are legendary and absolutely hilarious, no matter how many times you rewatch them. I mean, if you don’t have tears in your eyes from laughing when Bob claims that he does his own dentistry, then you’re doing it wrong. When the police arrive on Gary’s doorstep the next morning saying Brendan is missing and he was the last person to see him alive, the book takes all sorts of twists and turns. There’s a bit of a mystery, a bit of romance, and a bunch of insight in human beings and their behaviour.