Please can you help me find some gentle, very English/UK humour for my elderly dad?

[BSJohnson]

He loved "Travels with Boogie", which I gave him after seeing a recommendation on here, and also "Secrets of a bookseller". He also enjoyed Bill Bryson's books two England books, and "A walk in the woods". I also know he read and enjoyed "three men in a boat" years ago.

He doesn't usually read fiction, but I get the impression he likes gentle, English humour, but clever, not twee. He's sharp as a tack, and grasps contemporary references and modern culture, but doesn't not partake of them! Has anyone got any bright ideas, please?

@2bazookas

"Salmon fishing in the Yemen" by Paul Torday (I know, unappealing title).

any of the Donna Leon "Brunetti" series set in Venice.

Salmon Fishing is one of my favourite books. Particularly funny/wry if your dad ever worked fir local or national government. I work for the organization the books is dedicated to.

Spanish Steps by Tim Moore. Singularly the funniest book I've read, about a UK journalist attempting to walk the camino with a donkey. In a similar vein to Bryson.

Don't know if it's been mentioned but Three Men in a Boat is one of V the funniest books I've ever read.
Also The Ascent of Rumdoodle.

Oh, now I want that John O Farrell 2000 years of history book for him too! Df is a WW2 author, AND gave me "1066 and all that"when I was a teen, so it would be nice to return the favour.

And I'm sorry I'm not keeping up!
Just saw mention of "a short walk in the Hindu Kush" - read it myself over lockdown; fabulous! Must dig it out of wherever it is, and lend to df!

Brilliant suggestion - That fits the bill perfectly. Also Evelyn Waugh’s Scoop (if he hasn’t already read it).

DF has read "3 men on a bummel" (dm is German!)

Sorry - I was trying to say that the Nigel Barley innocent anthropologist suggestion is brilliant.

Thank you so much for the thread and the suggestions, everyone - I love hearing people enthuse about their favourite books!

I think I'm all set now (and got a few ideas for myself, too)

Has he read Mapp and Lucia?

In non-fiction I've got a book which is a collection of some of Alan Coren's newspaper columns, and it always make me laugh.

Mine is a combination of "Seems Like Old Times" and "More Like Old Times" which I can only find on Amazon for £50 (goodness knows why), or you can buy each volume separately for about three quid!

H E Bates, The Darling Buds of May etc?

MC Beaton's Hamish Macbeth or Agatha Raisin books.
The Para Handy books by Neil Munro
The Irish RM stories by Somerville & Ross.
Another vote for Alexander McCall Smith.

One of the funniest series of books I've ever read is By GM Fraser, roughly autobiographical about his time in National Service.
The General Danced at Dawn
McAusland in the Rough
The Sheikh and the Dustbin.

Oh gosh I do hope he's read "England, Their England" by A G MacDonell?
And the Gervase Fen mysteries by Edmund Crispin?

Not English, but that kind of wry, off-the-wall observation the English is James Thurber. He’s a favourite of mine. He wrote The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, which is a brilliant short story. Another American I enjoy is Calvin Trillin.

Maybe EF Benson's Mapp and Lucia books?

The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford

DH read and thoroughly enjoyed this recently. And he's a big Bill Bryson fan!

www.amazon.co.uk/Sunburnt-Penguins-Tour-USA-Englishmans-ebook/dp/B08BXRCZQH

Middle England by Jonathan Coe

@SenecaFallsRedux

Alexander McCall Smith is very good at gently amusing.

I agree. It's gentle Scottish humor, though, rather than English.

Agree. The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency is one of my absolute favourite book series. I would recommend it to anyone, regardless of age.

Very gentle, life-affirming, hopeful books (although he does tackle a lot of big and important issues. But there is always light to balance the darkness).

I was going to suggest Nancy Mitford- very funny. I love Wodehouse, and Bryson too.

It’s not U.K. based, mind. But the stories and the underlying principles are universal.

Racing Pigs And Giant Marrows: Travels Around the North Country Fairs
by Harry Pearson

Wonderful humourous book about the Britishness and idiosyncrasies of Country Fairs and Agricultural shows in the UK.

I'm always recommending 'The Wimbledon Poisoner' by Nigel Williams - it is so funny, and very English.

Oh yes, The Wimbledon Poisoner is fab. It’s part of a trilogy (although the only thing linking the books is that they’re all set in Wimbledon) but the second two aren’t as good.