Dolly Alderton’s Ghosts among novels in running for comic fiction prize
The shortlist for the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse prize has been announced.
Dolly Alderton’s debut novel Ghosts and Lauren Oyler’s novel Fake Accounts are among the six books in the running for the 2021 Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse prize for comic fiction, it has been announced.
The books on the shortlist for the prize, named for British humourist P. G. Wodehouse and now in its 21st year, have been selected by judges as the funniest novels of the past 12 months, which “best evoke the Wodehouse spirit of witty characters and perfectly-timed comic phrases”.
Alderton’s Ghosts, which is currently being adapted by the BBC, follows a woman in the awkward transitional phase of her early thirties while Fake Accounts looks at deception in the digital age.
Broadcaster James Naughtie, comedian Sindhu Vee, Hay Festival vice president James Albert and Everyman’s Library publisher David Campbell were also on the judging panel.
“Over a few glasses of Bollinger, we agreed that it was a truly vintage 21st year for the prize.
“With 81 submitted books to choose from, we whittled them down to a shortlist of six exceptionally strong and laugh out loud funny books.”
The winner will be awarded with champagne, the complete set of the Everyman’s Library P.G. Wodehouse collection and a pig named after their winning book.
