Light well written some humour for my husband

[BigDahliaFan]

He’s grumbling that everything around is dark or too gloomy.

he liked Gerald Durrell, all creatures great and small, Richard Osman…

he does read and loved Hilary Mantel, Kazuo Ishiguro etc, but wants something lighter…

any recommendations?

John Niven books would be perfect

I agree with Magnus Mills. The Restraint of Beasts is very dark and funny.

and definitely Christopher Brookmyre. First in the series is Quite Ugly One Morning although One Fine Day in the Middle of the Night is my favourite.

I also love Alexander McCall Smith’s Scotland Street series set in Edinburgh but they might be a bit twee. Which Christopher Brookmyre is definitely not!

Peter tinniswood

In case you’re adding up how many recommendations each writer gets, Bill Bryson (again). Any of his travel ones, so the UK ones, the Europe one and the US one, but my favourite is the Australian one. A real gem. Lighthearted, easy to read, but packed full of fascinating information.

Adrian Mole.

Bringing back the Beaver by Derek Gow- nonfiction, very funny.

Agree re Bill Bryson.

Also Christopher Brookmyre- along with the 2 mentioned The Last of the Unsinkable Rubber Ducks is v good.

The Appeal by Janice hallett- is crime but also is funny .

P. G. Wodehouse is sublime. Not only is he funny, he writes like an angel. In fact, his prose is so wonderful I think of him as a prose poet rather than a novelist. Maybe your partner could start with an audiobook (Stephen Fry has recorded some Wodehouse).

Douglas Adams is basically Wodehouse in space (Adams revered Wodehouse and based his style on him).

Patrick Leigh Fermor's A Time of Gifts always cheers me up.

Brian Blessed's autobiography had me screaming with laughter. I'd especially recommend the audiobook (read by Blessed himself).

Evelyn Waugh is also very funny, and great on audiobook. Try Michael Maloney reading Decline and Fall – funniest thing I've ever heard.

Personally, Stephen Fry reading Sherlock Holmes is my idea of heaven.

Rumpole

Oh gosh, yes, Rumpole. And Mole.

If you're counting, I'd also like to add an endorsement for Bryson and Brookmyre. In both cases, I prefer their earlier stuff.

The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden is pure farce.

The Brentford Triangle books by Robert Rankin. They are available on Audible so guess they are still in print.
David Nobbs as well, Porterhouse Blue etc.

Tom Sharpe

PG Wodehouse, 3 Men in a Boat (and Connie Willis's rollicking time travel jaunt and tribute To Say Nothing Of The Dog)

Rivers of London and Slough House are very funny, and he'd probably enjoy them when he's in a lighter mood, but they're quite dark in places. I wouldn't necessarily go to them for comfort reading.

I've just been recommending Georgette Heyer on another thread, and even though they're romances I don't think that a Y chromosome is always a bar to reading them, some men are fans, and they're really witty. In a similar but weightier vein, has he read all of Austen? If he reads Ishiguro and Mantel he's obviously capable of reading her for fun.

How about some autobiographies/memoirs? He might enjoy David Niven, Carrie Fisher, Roger Moore.

Not lighthearted but Robyn Hobb’s Fitz books are very well written and she creates a world of real depth.

Recent satire (the end of the world is flat) by Simon Edge might be of interest?

One more niche suggestion, but light, witty and with cross-gender appeal: Sarah Caudwell's four murder mysteries.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Caudwell

David Sedaris - his quirky tales about life are very amusing and a good read

I opened the thread to post David Sedaris but I see that is the most recent comment!

So I will offer Kingsley Amis. The Old Devils and Lucky Jim and very entertaining.

And not humorous but Day of the Jackal is still a brilliant read.

Stella Gibbons Cold Comfort Farm is hilarious.

Dixe Willis if he likes travel writing - lovely gentle comic style

I do read David Sedaris but I much prefer listening to him on the IPlayer or Audible