Humor

Enderby - poet, social critic, comrade and Catholic - is endlessly hounded by women. He may be found hiding in the lavatory where much of his best work is composed, or perhaps in Rome, brainwashed into respectability by a glamorous wife, aftershave and the dolce vita. But whether he is pursuing revenge and inspiration in Morocco, expounding on his notorious sex film on a TV chat show, or writing a hit musical based on the life and work of Shakespeare, Enderby emerges triumphant.

This is the "Penguin English Library Edition" of "The Pickwick Papers" by Charles Dickens. 'The fat boy rose, opened his eyes, swallowed the huge piece of pie he had been in the act of masticating when he last fell asleep, and slowly obeyed his master's orders'. Few first novels have created as much popular excitement as "The Pickwick Papers". Readers were immediately captivated by the adventures of the poet Snodgrass, the lover Tupman, the sportsman Winkle and, above all, by that quintessentially English Quixote, Mr Pickwick, and his cockney Sancho Panza, Sam Weller. From the hallowed turf of Dingley Dell Cricket Club to the unholy fracas of the Eatanswill election, via the Fleet debtor's prison, characters and incidents sprang to life from Dickens' pen, to form an enduringly popular

On the heels of his runaway "Bunny Suicides" books, cartoonist Andy Riley turns his irreverent wit to another group of small creatures that lurk among us seemingly everywhere: children. From the benign (every ant you meet must be named) to the truly cruel (Ronald McDonald is dead!), each hilarious cartoon has a tall tale to educate children and entertain wicked adults everywhere.

It all starts on the one-hundredth birthday of Allan Karlsson. Sitting quietly in his room in an old people's home, he is waiting for the party he-never-wanted-anyway to begin. The mayor is going to be there. The press is going to be there. But, as it turns out, Allan is not...Slowly but surely Allan climbs out of his bedroom window, into the flowerbed (in his slippers) and makes his getaway. And so begins his picaresque and unlikely journey involving criminals, several murders, a suitcase full of cash, and incompetent police. As his escapades unfold, we learn something of Allan's earlier life in which - remarkably - he helped to make the atom bomb, became friends with American presidents, Russian tyrants, and Chinese leaders, and was a participant behind the scenes in many key events

Everyone hates the perfect family. So you'll love the Battles. Mo is about to hit the big 50, and some uncomfortable truths are becoming quite apparent: She doesn't understand either of her teenage kids, which as a child psychologist, is fairly embarrassing. She has become entirely grey. Inside, and out. Her face has surrendered and is frightening children. Dora is about to hit the big 18 ...and about to hit anyone who annoys her, especially her precocious younger brother Peter who has a chronic Oscar Wilde fixation. Then there's Dad ...who's just, well, dad. "A Tiny Bit Marvellous" is the story of a modern family all living in their own separate bubbles lurching towards meltdown. It is for anyone who has ever shared a home with that weird group of strangers we call relations. Oh and t

Doctor Proctor has finally created something to help him fulfil his dream of becoming a famous inventor - a super-strength fart powder that can propel people into outer space! And with the help of his new neighbour Nilly, and Nilly's friend Lisa, Doctor Proctor's Fart Powder is ready to go worldwide! But ruthless twins Truls and Trym are determined to get hold of the powder for themselves. Their plot to spoil the Doctor's plans sparks a fart-filled adventure involving a firework extravaganza, a trip to prison and an escaped anaconda. Full of humour and witty dialogue, Jo Nesbo creates wonderfully weird characters and lets his imagination run wild in his delightful children's book debut.

From "Snuff": 'Vimes' prompt arrival got a nod of approval from Sybil, who gingerly handed him a new book to read to Young Sam. Vimes looked at the cover. The title was "The World of Poo". When his wife was out of eyeshot he carefully leafed through it. Well, okay, you had to accept that the world had moved on and these days fairy stories were probably not going to be about twinkly little things with wings. As he turned page after page, it dawned on him that whoever had written this book, they certainly knew what would make kids like Young Sam laugh until they were nearly sick. The bit about sailing down the river almost made him smile. But interspersed with the scatology was actually quite interesting stuff about septic tanks and dunnakin divers and gongfermors and how dog muck helped

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a policeman taking a holiday would barely have had time to open his suitcase before he finds his first corpse. And Commander Sam Vimes of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch is on holiday in the pleasant and innocent countryside, but not for him a mere body in the wardrobe. There are many, many bodies and an ancient crime more terrible than murder. He is out of his jurisdiction, out of his depth, out of bacon sandwiches, occasionally snookered and out of his mind, but never out of guile. Where there is a crime there must be a finding, there must be a chase and there must be a punishment. They say that in the end all sins are forgiven. But not quite all...

'A marriage is always made up of two people who are prepared to swear that only the other one snores' - From, "The Fifth Elephant". 'Inside every old person is a young person wondering what happened' - From, "Moving Pictures". "The Wit and Wisdom of Discworld" is a collection of the wittiest, pithiest and wisest quotations from this extraordinary universe, dealing one-by-one with each book in the canon. Guaranteed to transport you back to your favourite or forgotten Discworld moments, it is the perfect book for die-hard Pratchett fans, as well as anyone coming to the Discworld for the first time.

Stephen Fry's breathtakingly outrageous debut novel, by turns eccentric, shocking, brilliantly comic and achingly romantic. Adrian Healey is magnificently unprepared for the long littleness of life; unprepared too for the afternoon in Salzburg when he will witness the savage murder of a Hungarian violinist; unprepared to learn about the Mendax device; unprepared for more murders and wholly unprepared for the truth.

Is it really possible to invent a machine that does the job of a writer? What is it about a landlady's house that makes it so hard for her guests to leave? Does Sir Basil Turton value most his wife or one of his priceless sculptures? Here are thirteen of Roald Dahl's most unexpected tales, offering young readers the perfect introduction to the adult writing of a storytelling genius. From the sensitivity of stories such as "Katina" to the surprising creepiness of "Taste", these stories are full of all the fun, excitement and wonder of Roald Dahl's writing, offering originality, ingenuity, horror, unexpected twists and turns, a touch of the macabre - and much more besides.

What could go wrong when a wife pawns the mink coat that her lover gave her as a parting gift? What happens when a priceless piece of furniture is the subject of a deceitful bargain? Can a wronged woman take revenge on her dead husband? In these dark, disturbing stories Roald Dahl explores the sinister side of human nature: the cunning, sly, selfish part of each of us that leads us into the territory of the unexpected and unsettling. Stylish, macabre and haunting, these tales will leave you with a delicious feeling of unease. The stories are: "The Landlady", "William and Mary", "The Way Up To Heaven", "Parson's Pleasure", "Mrs Bixby and the Colonel's Coat", "Royal Jelly", "Georgy Porgy", "Genesis and Catastrophe", "Edward the Conqueror", "Pig", and "The Champion of the World".