Comic schemes, troublesome engagements, family demands, and resourceful servants.
P. G. Wodehouse (1881–1975) was an English novelist, short story writer, and lyricist. After working in a London bank, he became a full-time writer, contributing to newspapers and magazines. He also wrote lyrics for Broadway musicals, collaborating with Jerome Kern and Guy Bolton. His recurring characters include Jeeves and Bertie Wooster, Psmith, and the residents of Blandings Castle. He settled in the United States and became an American citizen in 1955.
His Jeeves stories follow Bertie Wooster, a wealthy young man who repeatedly needs his valet's help with family demands, unwanted engagements, and his friends' schemes. In “The Great Sermon Handicap,” Bertie joins a betting scheme based on the length of village sermons. Wodehouse builds complications from misunderstandings, disguises, and promises that are difficult to keep. His humor depends on elaborate plots, comic comparisons, and the difference between a narrator's confidence and his understanding of events.
From a quick encounter to a longer story.
On his first week in Bertie's service, Jeeves faces a stolen manuscript, a demanding fiancée, and a check suit he cannot approve.
Bertie backs a village sermon contest, but the clergy keep upsetting his carefully calculated odds.
When Bertie says he wants a house full of children, a stop at a girls’ school puts the idea to a test.
Aunt Agatha summons Bertie to a French resort and promotes a marriage he does not want, while Jeeves questions his holiday wardrobe.
Bingo's latest romance sends Bertie to his skeptical uncle, where an old impersonation threatens the marriage.
Rosie plans to publish a private account of her marriage, and Bingo recruits Bertie to keep it out of print.
Bingo falls for a revolutionary's daughter and joins her father's cause, even as he bets on a horse owned by his wealthy uncle.
Bertie travels to New York to rescue his cousin from a vaudeville romance, only to find Gussie aiming for a spot onstage himself.
Bertie's attempt to mend Freddie's broken engagement leaves him responsible for a stranger's child at the seaside.
Aunt Agatha asks Bertie to look after an English visitor in New York, then warns him to keep the young man away from the stage.
To keep his allowance, Bicky must convince his miserly duke of an uncle that he's prospering in New York. Jeeves has an idea.
Aunt Agatha wants Bertie to impress a Cabinet minister just as her son decides to punish the man for catching him smoking.
Bertie agrees to house a sheltered young lord in New York, then discovers that the guest has plans his mother never imagined.
At a Christmas house party, Bertie pursues Roberta, plots revenge on Tuppy, and tries to stay in Sir Roderick’s good graces.
When Bingo falls for a waitress, Jeeves proposes a reading list to persuade his wealthy uncle that class should not stand in love's way.
An artist needs his wealthy uncle's approval to marry, so Bertie brings in Jeeves to find a way past the man's stubbornness.
Determined to solve a problem without Jeeves, Bertie devises a plan to help Bingo win Honoria Glossop—and avoid her himself.
Bertie must convince a nerve specialist that he is a suitable son-in-law, but his flat is about to give the wrong impression.
A poet who hates New York must send his aunt lively reports from its nightlife to keep the allowance that lets him stay in the country.
Bertie has one job: get his troublesome cousins onto a ship. Both fall for the same woman and refuse to leave.
Sippy cannot refuse his old headmaster or tell a poet he loves her, so Bertie tries to cure both problems with a bag of flour.
Bingo tries to win Mary with a village Christmas show, while a rival and a bookmaker watch his every move.
Bertie and Jeeves back two unlikely contenders at a village sports day, but their bookmaker has plans of his own.
Biffy has lost the woman he loves and is engaged to another. Bertie’s rescue plan takes them to a crowded exhibition.
After a Boat Race night arrest, Bertie poses as his jailed friend at a Cambridge house full of people he'd rather avoid.
