Humorous Drunken Brits

1. “Right Ho, Jeeves”, by P.G. Wodehouse, 1934

Protagonist Bertie Wooster, becomes hopelessly entrenched in the love affair of close friend Gussie Fink-Nottle. Several pairs of young lovers, including Gussie and Bertie’s cousin Angela all find themselves at a country house in Market Snodsbury. Under Jeeves’ advisory, Bertie determines to reconcile all the young couples by ringing the fire bell at night, in hopes that the young men will rush to the damsels in distress. With this having failed, Bertie ill-advisedly tries to buck Gussie up with a few stiff ones, not realizing that Gussie has already been getting acquainted with the method. Skipping over many plot points, a highlight of “Right Ho, Jeeves” is a ridiculously funny drunken speech delivered by the sloshed Gussie Fink-Nottle, as he awards prizes to the Grammar School of Market Snodsbury.


2. “Cocktail Time”, by P.G. Wodehouse , 1958

This hilarious novel begins when the young-at-heart sexagenarian Earl of Ickenham knocks the hat off his in-law Beefy Bastable with a sling-shot, using a brazil nut. Assuming that the3 outrage was perpetrated by a member of the Drones, Club, Beefy pens a novel “Cocktail Time,” about the misdeeds of the young…but when it becomes a massive hit, Beefy begins to fear for his conservative political career. He enlists the help of his nephew, Cosmo, by having him claim authorship. The plot thickens as romances fill the air, and a bidding war for “Cocktail Time,” by major Hollywood studios, ensues.


3. “Lucky Jim”, by Kingsley Amis, 1954

Jim Dixon is a junior lecturer at a British college, who by day skulks around campus avoiding those who most wish to speak with him; and at night is usually in hot pursuit of a good stiff one. His job is in constant danger, due to his habit of lurking and shooting off and his definitive lack of ability at his job. Soon, despite Jim’s efforts to avoid a senior college staff member, he ends up at his country-side home and preposterous situations abound, “Lucky Jim” finds himself continually worse for the wear in this terrifically comic novel. Please note that “Lucky Jim” has one of the funniest descriptions of a hangover that pen has ever put to page.


Commentary: These novels combine in a humorous threesome in which unresolved romantic situations abound, as do retreats to the country, and one too many cocktails. They each also feature a moment classic in its hilarity: In “Right Ho, Jeeves,” one of Wodehouse’s earliest works, this is Gussie Fink-Nottles’ inept speech; in “Cocktail Time,” this is the narration of the the Earl of Ickenham’s plot to pop off Beefy’s hat with a brazil nut; and Amis’ description of Jim’s hangover is a triumph.