Has anyone read this book? My mum, of all people, lent it to me some time ago and I've only recently got round to reading it and found it to be frigging hilarious. The kind of funny that hurts after a while.
At the heart of it, this is a spy novel and it's a bit predictable given that it's plot is inspired by The Third Man, but in any case the journey our hero takes is colourful and gripping! The context alone makes the book worth reading. Set in the near future of a unified Europe, Brussels has proclaimed no-one can be "prejudiced from employment for reason of age, race, creed or incompitence [sic]".
If you have ever read "Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers" or "Better Than Life" then you'll already be familiar with the general style as the reader encounters so many great characters. My favourite is a coroner who delights in swapping faces with arses on the cadavers unfortunate enough to go his way (there is also one instance, proud as punch, where swaps the right breast with left one). Of course, there is also Twinkle. An ancient yorkshireman who makes a living as a bunny girl lapdancer.
I think Rob Grant is the funnier side of the gestalt entity that is Grant Naylor (judging by Red Dwarf post Season 6) and is one of the best comedy writers in the country. Give it a read!
At the heart of it, this is a spy novel and it's a bit predictable given that it's plot is inspired by The Third Man, but in any case the journey our hero takes is colourful and gripping! The context alone makes the book worth reading. Set in the near future of a unified Europe, Brussels has proclaimed no-one can be "prejudiced from employment for reason of age, race, creed or incompitence [sic]".
If you have ever read "Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers" or "Better Than Life" then you'll already be familiar with the general style as the reader encounters so many great characters. My favourite is a coroner who delights in swapping faces with arses on the cadavers unfortunate enough to go his way (there is also one instance, proud as punch, where swaps the right breast with left one). Of course, there is also Twinkle. An ancient yorkshireman who makes a living as a bunny girl lapdancer.
I think Rob Grant is the funnier side of the gestalt entity that is Grant Naylor (judging by Red Dwarf post Season 6) and is one of the best comedy writers in the country. Give it a read!