P. G. Wodehouse
Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse (1881 - 1975), English comic novelist.
Best known for the Jeeves and Wooster novels. Nicknamed 'Plum'. The surname is pronounced "Woodhouse", not "Woadhouse".
He was educated at Dulwich college, and then worked for the Hong Kong and Shanghai bank for two years. Married in 1914.
Taken prisoner in Germany during World War II whence he made broadcasts that led to his being accused of treachery. His reputation later recovered.
Became an American citizen in 1955.
Made Knight of the British Empire in 1975.
His novels fall into a number of series. The Blandings books are about the upper-class inhabitants of a fictional Blandings Castle including the eccentric Earl of Blandings, obsessed by his prize-winning pig, the Empress of Blandings. The most famous series are the Jeeves and Wooster books, featuring the ever-optimistic Bertie Wooster, his fearsome aunts (Aunts Agatha and Daphne), and his humble but omniscient valet Jeeves. The Drones Club features in most books, and most of the male characters are Drones.
Bibliography
- School stories
- Blandings:
- Something Fresh
- Summer Lightning
- Heavy Weather
- Uncle Fred in the Springtime
- Full Moon
- Uncle Dynamite
- Pigs Have Wings
- Cocktail Time
- Service with a Smile
- Galahad at Blandings
- A Pelican at Blandings
- Sunset at Blandings
- Jeeves:
- The Inimitable Jeeves (1923)
- Carry on Jeeves (1924)
- Right Ho, Jeeves (1934)
- Thank you, Jeeves (1934)
- The Code of the Woosters (1937)
- Quick Service (1940)
- Ring for Jeeves
- Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves
- Joy in the Morning (1947)
- The Mating Season (1949)
- Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit (1954)
- Jeeves in the Offing (1960)
- Aunts Aren't Gentlemen
- Very Good Jeeves
- Psmith:
- Psmith, Journalist (1915)
- Leave it to Psmith
- Psmith in the City
- Musical comedies
- Kissing Time
- Other:
Both the Blandings and Jeeves stories have been adapted as BBC television series: the Jeeves series has been adapted twice, once in the 1960s with Ian Carmichael as Bertie Wooster, and Dennis Price as Jeeves, and again in the 1990s, with the title "Jeeves and Wooster" starring Hugh Laurie as Wooster and Stephen Fry as Jeeves.
Characters
Reginald Jeeves Bertie Wooster Gussie Fink-Nottle Madeline Bassett Bingo Little Barmy Fotheringay-Phipps (pronounced Barmy Fungy-Phipps) Oofy Wegg-Prosser Agatha Gregson (Aunt Agatha) Earl of Blandings Psmith Beech the Butler Lord Emsworth Roderick Spode