Recommend comedy books

[StuH1]

Avid reader here who for a long time has read mainly crime fiction. Last year I read Bob Mortimer's debut novel which was a crime story to an extent but had comedic elements too. Having enjoyed it I now want to branch so does anyone have any recommendations please?

Have you read Terry Pratchett? Douglas Adams? Pure comedy.
Otherwise, if you mean books written by comedians, I found James Acaster's books quite good, if not a joke a minute, and Tom Allen's No Shame was quite good, too.

Not strictly comedy but Bill Bryson always makes me wheeze laughing. The Life and Times Of The Thunderbolt Kid in particular. I’ve reduced myself to giggles going round the supermarket by remembering his description of his friend’s dad jumping off the high diving board 😁

Thank you both, I'll have a look. I've never read anything by who you have mentioned. Do the Discworld books need to be read in order?

I would also recommend Discworld. Discworld can be read in any order, but they do overlap. I would suggest something from the witches

Blot on the Landscape - Tom Sharpe

Frank and Stan Bucket list - IC Williams

Blue Moon books - Steve Higgs

None of the above are heavy reads, but are enjoyable.

Adrian Mole

Tom Sharpe books are funny but dated. Could watch Porterhouse Blue with David Jason as a quick way to see if your style.

More modern would be Sick Puppy by Carl Hiaassen. Don't let the title put you off it's easy but funny fiction featuring ecology and local politics set in Florida.

H do you fancy trying modern farce? I quite enjoyed the Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden when I read it in holiday a couple of years ago.

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole would be my desert island book. I found it so funny that as soon as I finished it, I started reading it again.

The Pyrates by George MacDonald Fraser (he wrote the Flashman books)
The Little World of Don Camillo - actually I'm not sure this counts as comedy, it just lives in the same place in my head
Robert Rankin
Tom Holt - Expecting Someone Taller, and various others
Jasper Fforde - the Thursday Next books, beginning with The Eyre Affair. "comic fantasy alternate history mystery novels" with a Literary Detective as the protagonist.
Douglas Adams: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency and sequel Long Dark Teatime of the Soul
Have you read Wodehouse?

Discworld reading order:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Discworld_Reading_Order_Guide_3.0_(cropped).jpg
or https://www.discworldemporium.com/reading-order/

The Humans by Matt Haig is hilarious.

Bridget Jones' Diary
Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason
Kingsley Amis, Lucky Jim
PG Wodehouse

Douglas Adams: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency and sequel Long Dark Teatime of the Soul

Lines from those books occupy way too much of my head space

I agree with pp , Bill bryony is great my favourite is A walk in the woods, where he walks the appalachian trail

But my all time favorite author is definitely Gerald durral .
His best known book is My family and other animals with imo is absolutely fantastic.
It was made into a TV series a while back which is not a patch on the book.
His other books are all based on his trekking around some beautiful and some godforsaken lands to look for rare creatures.
His obvious love and knowledge of wild animals ( and people) is very apparent.
The way he tells his stories is so immersing and funny they are true pleasure to read

Bella Mackie - How To Kill Your Family, is perfect for you.

Thanks everyone some great suggestions. I'm going to be busy

Report back @StuH1 and let us know what your read and what you thought of them .

Red Dwarf (the book of the vintage TV show) and Better Than Life (there's a dual edition).
My copy got so dog-eared after laughing my way through so many journeys that I bought a new one.

Not a natrative book, but the Book of Mistaikes by Giles Brandreth. Again, my copy is falling apart.

Brian Blessed: ‘Absolute Pandemonium’. (I listened to Blessed himself read it and laughed so much at one point I had to stop the car.)

Douglas Adams: Hitchiker books. (Funny and interesting at the same time.)

Evelyn Waugh: ‘Decline and Fall’. (The Michael Maloney audiobook is the greatest reading I have ever listened to).

P G Wodehouse: ‘Right Ho Jeeves’.

Peter Ustinov is a very funny writer, and Kingsley Amis’ Lucky Jim is very good. For my money, though, Evelyn Waugh and P. G. Wodehouse are the supreme comic writers in the English language. I’ve never found anyone funnier. Wodehouse, at his best, is sublime.

We’ve obviously got similar taste - I love Gerald Durrell too! 😂😂

A few of my suggestions have been done already- how to kill your family and PG Wodehouse. Another to add - Cold Comfort Farm

Just one damn thing after another by Jodi Taylor for something a bit different - it’s about time travelling historians

I always laugh out loud at Diary of a Nobody by George Grossmith. It was written in the 1890s but as far as living in London goes it could have been written yesterday, apart from the tech of course. But the work hassles and the tradespeople hassles and just life hassles are so well observed.
A bit random and it might just be me but I loved Dry by Augusten Burroughs, made me howl with laughter. Its not a comedy its about his alcoholism and attempts to quit, but he is so honest and witty, actually it is just a fantastic book and more people should read it!

He is a absolute genius isn't he.
I'd l9ve to go to his zoo .

Durrell Wildlife Camp

https://g.co/kgs/fRq8UuJ

David Sedaris is absolutely hilarious. My favourite is Me Talk Pretty One Day but they're all good. He's an essayist so his books are always easy to dip in and out of which is another bonus.