Showing titles in Literature & Fiction

In 2023 John Finnemore and the Souvenir Programme team returned to Radio 4 with a new format – annual, one-off, 45-minute Specials. Some are in the style of Series 1-8, with sketches, jokes and songs, while others are more discursive and experimental, like Series 9. Collected together here, they all feature his trusty ensemble cast of Margaret Cabourn-Smith, Simon Kane, Lawry Lewin and Carrie Quinlan.

Travel with Steve, doomed for eternity to serve as hell’s Mr. Fixit, on a wild ride through the circles of hell in this best-selling, humorous fantasy series.

One thing that can be said about Quinn Pearson is that she has a knack for doing the wrong thing at the wrong time. Like, the worst time ever. Take her job for instance. One little slip of the tongue using the mother of all swear words while reporting the news, and suddenly she finds herself with over 18 million views on YouTube and her employment in jeopardy. If that wasn’t bad enough, when she meets the man of her dreams, she nearly chokes to death on a powdered sugar donut. Thankfully for Quinn, the dashing Brit, Henry, finds her near death experience quite charming.

Paul can't let an incident from his past go. When he finds out a rival detective agency played a key role in it, he drags MCM Investigations into a blood feud that they can't hope to win. Soon they're faced with the prospect of the company going out of business, and Brigit going out of her damn mind. When long-buried bodies are discovered in the Wicklow Mountains, Bunny's past starts closing in on him, too.

No.1 bestselling author Gill Sims is back with her eagerly awaited fourth and final Why Mummy novel. I just wanted them to stop wittering at me, eat vegetables without complaining, let me go to the loo in peace and learn to make a decent gin and tonic. Mummy has been a wife and mother for so...

For Detective Bunny McGarry, life is complicated, and it is about to get more so. It’s 1999 and his hard won reputation amongst Dublin’s criminal fraternity, for being a massive pain in the backside, is unfortunately shared by his bosses. His partner has a career-threatening gambling problem and, oh yeah, Bunny's finally been given a crack at the big time. He’s set the task of bringing down the most skilled and ruthless armed robbery gang in Irish history. So the last thing he needs in his life is yet another complication.

Bill works as an economist in a right-wing institute giving succour to bankers and businessmen. Bella is a confirmed socialist who teaches yoga and waters the plants in Canary Wharf. Years ago they shared a flat before Bill got married and moved to America. Now he's back and feeling a little off-kilter, so he decides to rekindle his friendship with Bella. Once a month they get together for lunch, where they talk about everything from politics to Proust, parenting and the perils of online dating. The only thing they never discuss is how much they love each other....

This audio edition is brilliantly and hilariously read by Sally Phillips, known for her performances in Bridget Jones's Diary and Smack the Pony. More Confessions of a Forty-Something F##k Up: the laugh-out-loud sequel to the hilarious, WTF AM I DOING NOW?! runaway bestseller! 'The new Bridget...

From sharp-tongued satire to moments that break your heart, Resonance is the most unflinching volume yet in the acclaimed Conversations with the Devil collection. Not every conversation here involves the Devil himself. One begins with a phone call no parent should ever receive. Another follows a woman who’s masked her entire life without realizing she’s on the autism spectrum. Elsewhere, a comedian takes verbal swings at a trial lawyer, and the Devil’s familiar bite returns in stories that skewer ego, vanity, and the absurdities of human nature.

'Death has to happen. Tha'ts what bein' alive is all about. You're alive, and then you're dead. It can't just stop happening.' But it can. And it has. So what happens after death is now less of a philosophical question than a question of actual reality. On the disc, as here, they need Death. If...

In the complete series one to four of the multi-award-winning hit show from the people who brought you Cabin Pressure and Armando Iannucci's Charm Offensive, stand-up comedian Marcus Brigstocke has been put in charge of a thing! In each episode, Marcus finds he's volunteered to be in charge of a big old thing - a hospital, a prison, the banking system.

The Godfather of alternative comedy, Alexei Sayle, mixes memoir and philosophy from behind the counter of his imaginary sandwich bar, serving up wit, wisdom and illusory baguettes as he muses on a multitude of topics. In these 12 shows, he explores his impulse to pretend and his love of sandwiches, discusses his childhood in a communist household and his physical attraction to Boris Johnson, explains why he will never go on Strictly Come Dancing and draws a striking comparison between capitalism and all-you-can-eat buffets.

The complete ninth series of BBC Radio 4's award-winning sketch show. John Finnemore returns with his multi-award-winning sketch show, but this series is very different to the previous eight. There are still sketches and songs, and it's still written and performed by him and his usual fantastic ensemble cast - but with no live studio audience, John has taken the opportunity to try something new.

'This is every woman’s dream revenge plot come to life.' Reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Are you on a date that doesn’t feel right? Can’t shake that creepy guy at the bar? Worried you’re being followed home? Message M. After one too many terrifying encounters, Millie Masters sets up a...

Wang Er, a twenty-one-year-old ox herder, is shamed by the local authorities and forced to write a confession of his crimes, but he instead takes it upon himself to write a modernist literary tract. Later, as a lecturer at a chaotic, newly built university, Wang Er navigates the bureaucratic maze of 1980’s China, boldly writing about the Cultural Revolution’s impact on his life and those around him. Finally, alone and humbled, Wang Er must come to terms with the banality of his own existence.

Author, pipe-smoker, fare-dodger and master of the complaining letter and abusive email, Ed Reardon returns for another four series. Despite many thwarted attempts at literary succes, he's still living a precarious existence with his trusty companion Elgar, reliant on any small morsels of work Ping can offer him to keep body, mind and cat together. He also continues to have regular run-ins with his nemesis, Jaz Milvane—who somehow manages to make money out of mad schemes, while Ed makes nothing—and his love life remains more than a little erratic.

Malcolm George Galbraith is a large, somewhat clumsy Scotsman. He’s being forced to leave the woman he loves behind and needs to explain why. So he leaves her a note on the kitchen table Malcolm decides to start from the beginning and tell the whole story of his long life, something he’s never dared do before. Because Malcolm isn’t what he seems. As it gathers pace, Malcolm’s story combines tragedy, comedy, mystery, a touch of leprosy, several murders, a massacre, a ritual sacrifice, an insane tyrant, two great romances, a landslide, a fire, and a talking fish.

Ex-con Bob has done his time. After five years at Her Majesty's pleasure, he's been released on licence with an ankle tag registered to his estranged son's address. Uptight Gruff isn't too happy about it - he's just become a father himself and the last thing he needs is his delinquent dad back in his life. But Bob turns on the charm, persuading sympathetic daughter-in-law Alice that his heart's in the right place and manages to inveigle his way into moving in.

Welcome to the all-encompassing Museum of Everything – feel free to take a wander round our infinite gallery of strange exhibits, stranger exhibitors, disgruntled guides and obsessed visitors. The items on display range from the Elgin Tiddlywinks to the birds and the bees, and you can learn about the history of wicker and the origins of scampi, enjoy a display featuring the worst-selling author of Victorian times, get inducted into the Mock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame and discover the real identity of Jack the Ripper.

The complete Series 5-7 of the legendary BBC radio comedy One of the funniest and most popular series on radio between 1958 and 1964, Beyond Our Ken delighted audiences nationwide throughout its seven series and 123 episodes. Packed with sketches, songs, catchphrases and innuendo, it mixes...