Any suggestions?
I don't think I've ever read a funny book. A line or two may have made me laugh, but I'm looking for a fictional novel (as opposed to a biography or similar) that is deliberately intended to be funny. Comedy is obviously subjective, which makes it difficult, hence why I'm asking normal human beings disguised as Burnley fans for their opinions on 'funny' books.

I thought both Bob Mortimer novels were very funny.
If you like Bob’s humour then you would like his books

Billy Liar. I genuinely did laugh out loud throughout the whole book.

Big Vinny K wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 09, 2025 10:21 pm

I thought both Bob Mortimer novels were very funny.
If you like Bob’s humour then you would like his books

I do like Bob Mortimer, but is his novel humour as ridiculous as he is?
I've seen him on WILTY and it's outrageously funny, but a book like that would probably be too much to also be an engaging tale?

I remember laughing at Yes Man by Danny Wallace years ago. Completely changed my approach to life, too.

Do you say Yes to everything now, Fretters? Surely not!

Probably a bit dated now but Tom Sharpe's books are laugh out loud funny. Satire. Porterhouse Blue, Wilt, Blot on the Landscape etc.

distortiondave wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 09, 2025 10:35 pm

I do like Bob Mortimer, but is his novel humour as ridiculous as he is?
I've seen him on WILTY and it's outrageously funny, but a book like that would probably be too much to also be an engaging tale?

Bob Mortimer is so much more than WILTY but some of the humour he uses when he is in this you can see in the books (for example the names of some of the characters).
But there is also a pretty decent story in both books and as said if you like Bob you should like the books.

“A Confederacy of Dunces” by John Kennedy Toole, finally published in 1980 a few years after he died.

It’s been a long time but I remember laughing out loud a lot when reading Catch-22

This had me in hysterics. Same plot as the TV show but as a more compact story with a really cool ending.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Dwarf ... ul_Drivers

Another oldie but goody - The Milagro Beanfield War. John Nichols. Hilarious.

e- by Matt Beaumont
The account of an ad agency trying to win a coke pitch, entirely through email

welsbyswife wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 09, 2025 10:48 pm

Probably a bit dated now but Tom Sharpe's books are laugh out loud funny. Satire. Porterhouse Blue, Wilt, Blot on the Landscape etc.

Was going to suggest "the throwback" by Tom Sharpe.

Taffy on the wing wrote: ↑

Thu Jul 10, 2025 3:44 am

Was going to suggest "the throwback" by Tom Sharpe.

A big favourite of mine Taffy.

Nearly everything by Howard Jacobson, especially "The Mighty Walzer"

“ Three Men in a Boat “ - Jerome K Jerome.

Not a novel but Pies and Prejudice by Stuart Maconie worth a read

Again not a novel but Spike Milligans autobiography series is without doubt laugh out funny, particularly the first 2 or 3.

Agree with the Tom Sharpe suggestion, my favourite is Wilt

I’m listening to the Satsuma Complex by Bob Mortimer at the moment on audible. Absolutely brilliant.

‘This is going to hurt’ by Adam Kay

PG Wodehouse’s Jeeves books…. He is the master and impossible to read these without laughing and generally feeling more cheerrful.

Another Joseph Wambaugh novel, The Choirboys.

The first book in the Scoundrels series by Duncan Crowe and James Peak is truly hilarious. I fell out of bed and damaged my elbow I laughed so much!! The second and third are less amusing but worth a read.

A shout for Tom Sharpe too. I also loved The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin on tv but the original book by David Nobbs is even funnier.

box_of_frogs wrote: ↑

Thu Jul 10, 2025 7:47 am

‘This is going to hurt’ by Adam Kay

Definitely this book. Some brilliant anecdotes and well written.

Also, his famous uncle Peter Kay, his autobiography is very good, though it was a good few years ago when I read it, it did make me laugh out loud.

That said, not sure if it is age and cynicism but sadly I've noticed I dont laugh out loud as much as I used to. Is it just me?

Oshkoshclaret wrote: ↑

Thu Jul 10, 2025 12:13 am

It’s been a long time but I remember laughing out loud a lot when reading Catch-22

Same here. Think it was 1969 or 1970 when I read it and giggled through it. I saw the film later, decent but not as funny as the book

Taffy on the wing wrote: ↑

Thu Jul 10, 2025 3:44 am

Was going to suggest "the throwback" by Tom Sharpe.

Yep, one of his best, although they are all so good it's hard to pick a favourite!

Love books but rare to find good funny novels,
Two that have worked for me were: The 100 year old man who climbed out of a window and disappeared, by Jonas Jonasson, and Lessons in Chemistry, by Bonnie Garmus.

Another shout out for A Confederacy of Dunces. Very funny. Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh is also up there.

I’ve recently read The Unfinished Harauld Highes, by Richard Ayoade. Not strictly a novel, more a fictional account of Ayoade working on a documentary of a fictional playwright (Harauld Hughes - who happens to have an uncanny similarity to Ayoade) it has some proper laugh out loud moments.

distortiondave wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 09, 2025 10:43 pm

Do you say Yes to everything now, Fretters? Surely not!

Yes


No, but I did start agreeing to more stuff I was invited to. I'd go to things I couldn't really be bothered with, and it was at one of those that I met my wife!

Starter For Ten by David Nicholls
Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis
Anything by P G Wodehouse
The Jennings books by Anthony Buckeridge

Red Dwarf books by "Grant Naylor"

Catch 22 for me as well

Big Vinny K wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 09, 2025 10:21 pm

I thought both Bob Mortimer novels were very funny.
If you like Bob’s humour then you would like his books

Not always laugh out loud stuff, but quirky and entertaining.

I enjoyed them.

I read both of Bob's and thought they was very humorous and enjoyable. The 3rd book comes out in October I believe.

I then did both books as audio books, on the way to and from work. They did become a bit of a distraction on the road with me hurling out laughter sat on the M6.

I did enjoy them much more as an audio book, as Bobs narrating is fantastic, but is this cheating?

welsbyswife wrote: ↑

Thu Jul 10, 2025 9:17 am

Yep, one of his best, although they are all so good it's hard to pick a favourite!

I have enjoyed all his books but The Throwback is probably my favourite.

Again very dated but Spike Milligan - Adolf Hitler (my part in his downfall) had me in stitches - It's years since I read it so perhaps need to read it again and see if it has aged well.

Some excellent suggestions, particularly A Confederacy of Dunces. But isn't this absolutely Clarets Mad all over? Poster asks for fiction reads and gets a few non fiction!

However, they were very good suggestions though.

Goalkeeper wrote: ↑

Thu Jul 10, 2025 3:33 pm

Some excellent suggestions, particularly A Confederacy of Dunces. But isn't this absolutely Clarets Mad all over? Poster asks for fiction reads and gets a few non fiction!

However, they were very good suggestions though.

Yup fair point, but it's like folk all over, we all get carried away when we think we can contribute. Real life or Social Media.

Mondsley wrote: ↑

Thu Jul 10, 2025 8:29 am

Another Joseph Wambaugh novel, The Choirboys.

2nd vote for this. Will never forget the chapter where our hero is crawling along the floor on his back to get underneath a glass table to check out what was sat on it!

Nick Spalding - Dumped Actually
Irvine Welsh - Porno
Alexei Sayle - Barcelona Plates
Ardal O'Hanlan - The Talk of the Town
Charlie Higson - Happy Now
John O'Farrell - The Best a Man Can Get
Iain Grant - Small Town Antichrist
Martin Amis - London Fields

Most of these are old now so copies may be hard to come by. I had many as paperbacks but use Kindle now. Quite a few of the Welsh books are darkly funny so you could pick Glue etc and enjoy. I've mentioned him on here before but I also find the Logan McRae series very funny at times.

Any Terry Pratchett book

Fez wrote: ↑

Thu Jul 10, 2025 11:33 am

I read both of Bob's and thought they was very humorous and enjoyable. The 3rd book comes out in October I believe.

I then did both books as audio books, on the way to and from work. They did become a bit of a distraction on the road with me hurling out laughter sat on the M6.

I did enjoy them much more as an audio book, as Bobs narrating is fantastic, but is this cheating?

Yes it’s cheating !!

lakedistrictclaret wrote: ↑

Thu Jul 10, 2025 5:22 am

“ Three Men in a Boat “ - Jerome K Jerome.

I seem to recall a bit about travelling with cheese on a train that had me roaring. Will have to re read it along with a Confederacy of Dunces previously mentioned.

Flann o Brien - The Third Policemen, especially the footnotes on De Selby.

Scoop, by Evelyn Waugh.
It’s a while since I last read it, but I remember a wickedly funny satire relating to an occasional nature correspondent who is mistaken for a war correspondent, and sent off to cover a revolution in Abyssinia ( yes, it was written a long time ago)
It is based on Waughs own experience as a war correspondent, during which he allegedly sent a report written in Latin, to evade censorship, to the Daily Mail. No-one could read it, and it was discarded.
I also enjoyed The Loved One and Decline and Fall (mentioned above) by the same author.

lakesider wrote: ↑

Thu Jul 10, 2025 6:41 pm

2nd vote for this. Will never forget the chapter where our hero is crawling along the floor on his back to get underneath a glass table to check out what was sat on it!

I believe that was The day Padre Willy ate pressed ham through the wrapper.

For those aged 8 to 12, my own 'Silly Island'! https://www.amazon.co.uk/Silly-Island-B ... 1914933664

I'm a lifelong Burnley fan/season ticket holder and former Lancashire headteacher (Barrowford St Thomas' then Whalley). 'Silly Island' is a comedy/fantasy, one of my four books for children of that age, published by i2i Publishing.

Here's the blurb:
Imagine how it would feel to live on an island where you are encouraged to be silly, to laugh, to have fun and simply love life with a big smile on your face. That’s what it’s like for those who call Silly Island their home. In the schools there are lessons in silly subjects such as juggling rhubarb and standing in buckets of slime. Every HIppetyscringeday (the day we call Thursday) the islanders spend the entire day being as silly as they like, watching and taking part in Silly Shows. Popular island games include high-speed slow bicycle racing and pass the feather. Although they have never even heard of football, the islanders agree to play against Brazil, with hilarious results. Sadly, the Silly Islanders fail to realise that a disaster is about to strike. Art-loving 10-year-old Spring Herb and her drummer friend Jazz McNoodly-Noodly, son of Lollipop. the island’s leader, come up with an ingenious idea to try to save the Silly Island, but will they be too late? And… has anyone seen Mister Porridge? A comedy/fantasy with an environmental message, ‘Silly Island’ will appeal to ages 8 to 12 and anyone who loves to laugh!

Any of Spike Milligan's War Diaries, particularly the first few:

Adolf Hitler, My Part In His Downfall
Rommel, Gunner Who?
Monty, His Part In My Victory
Mussolini, His part in My Downfall

Flashman series by George MacDonald Fraser

Thanks all, plenty to go at here.
I'm actually a few chapters deep into A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian, and whilst its not laugh out loud funny (yet, at least) it's drawn a few smiles and the subject matter has potential.