Comedy Books

Pull on your wellies, grab your flat cap and join Jeremy Clarkson in this hilarious and fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the farm we're all obsessed with . . . An idyllic spot offering picturesque views across the Cotswolds, bustling hedgerows and natural springs. Until one day, Jeremy decided he would do the farming itself. After all, how hard could it be? . . . Faced with suffocating red tape, biblical weather, local objections, a global pandemic and his own frankly staggering ignorance of how to 'do farming', Jeremy soon realises that turning the farm around is going to take more than splashing out on a massive tractor. Fortunately, there's help at hand from a large and (mostly) willing team, including girlfriend Lisa, Kaleb the Tractor Driver, Cheerful Charlie, Ellen the Shepherd and Gerald, his Head of Security and Dry Stone Waller. And yet while the farm may be called Diddly Squat for good reason, Jeremy soon begins to understand that it's worth a whole lot more to him than pounds, shillings and pence . . . Product Information: • ISBN: 9780241464502 • Author: Jeremy Clarkson • Publisher: Michael Joseph • Format: Hardback • Pages: 224 • Dimensions: 24 x 16.2 x 2.6 cm

Welcome back to Clarkson's Farm. At the end of Jeremy's first year in the tractor's driving seat, Diddly Squat farm rewarded him with a profit of just £144. So, while he's the first to admit that he's still only a 'trainee farmer'*, there is clearly still work to be done. Because while he's mastered the art of moaning about nearly everything, some of the other attributes required of a successful farmer prove more of a challenge. Did you know that loading a grain trailer was more demanding than flying an Apache gunship? Or that cows were more dangerous than motor-racing? Or whether would have been easier to get planning permission to build a nuclear power station than to turn an old barn into a farm restaurant? But if the council planning department and the local red trouser brigade seem determined to frustrate his schemes at every turn, at least he's got Lisa, Kaleb, Cheerful Charlie and Gerald, his dry-stone-walling Head of Security to see him through.  Product Information:  • ISBN:  9780241695791 • Author:  Jeremy Clarkson • Publisher:  Michael Joseph • Format:  Hardback • Pages:  240 • Dimensions:  15.24 x 1.3 x 23.5 cm

Ripley's Believe It or Not! is guaranteed to amaze and entertain children and adults alike with its unique blend of weird but true stories and jaw-dropping facts gathered from all over the world. This year... Marvel at the ice caves of Alaska. Find out what very unusual food Icelanders eat at their traditional mid-winter feast. Discover why Lucas the penguin has to wear rubber boots. Hear about the woman who sailed down the Missouri River in a giant hollowed-out pumpkin. And take the 'Funny Bones' test to see whether you can match photographs of skeletons to their animal owners. No Christmas is complete without Ripley's! Product Information: • ISBN: 9781529941203 • Author: Ripley • Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd • Format: Hardback • Pages: 256 • Dimensions: 30.5 x 23.6 x 2.2cm

After three years, Jeremy Clarkson has discovered the golden rule of farming: Whatever you hope will happen, won't. Enthusiastic schemes to diversify face defeat at the hands of the Council Planning department, or derision from Kaleb. Jeremy's plans for a business empire founded on rewilding and nettle soup are doubted by Lisa. And the stifling thickets of red tape keep only one person smiling – Cheerful Charlie, who charges by the hour. But the animals couldn’t be happier. A rented bull called Break-Heart Maestro is delighting the cows. The pigs are bringing home the bacon. And the goats are . . . most probably psychopaths. Yet on the good days it hard not to be optimistic. Where else do you get to harvest blackberries with a vacuum cleaner? Maybe it’s not just Break-heart Maestro who gets a happy ending? Product Information:  • ISBN:  9781405961424 • Author: Jeremy Clarkson   • Publisher: Penguin • Format: Paperback • Pages: 192 • Dimensions: 12.9 x 1.2 x 19.7cm

BAFTA-winning actor, creator of a myriad of unforgettable characters from Lady Whiteadder to Professor Sprout, Miriam Margolyes, OBE, is the nation's favourite (and naughtiest) treasure. Now, at the age of 80, she has finally decided to tell her extraordinary life story - and it's well worth the wait. Find out how being conceived in an air-raid gave her curly hair; what pranks led to her being known as the naughtiest girl Oxford High School ever had and why Bob Monkhouse was the best (male) kiss she's ever had. From declaring her love to Vanessa Redgrave to being told to be quiet by the Queen, this book is packed with brilliant, hilarious stories. With a cast list stretching from Scorsese to Streisand, a cross-dressing Leonardo di Caprio to Isaiah Berlin, This Much Is True is as warm and honest, as full of life and surprises, as its inimitable author. Product Information: • ISBN: 9781529379907 • Author: Miriam Margolyes • Publisher: John Murray • Format: Paperback • Pages: 448 • Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 3.2 cm

Another year on the Diddly Squat Farm and Jeremy is still knee-deep in mud and endless challenges. Welcome back to Clarkson's Farm. Since taking the wheel three years ago Jeremy's had his work cut out. And it's now clear from hard-won experience that, when it comes to farming, there's only one golden rule: Whatever you hope will happen, won't. Enthusiastic schemes to diversify have met with stubborn opposition from the red trouser brigade, defeat at the hands of Council Planning department, and predictable derision from Kaleb - although, to be fair, even Lisa had doubts about Jeremy's brilliant plan to build a business empire founded on rewilding and nettle soup. And only Cheerful Charlie is still smiling about the stifling amount of red tape that's incoming... But he charges by the hour. Then there are the animals: the sheep are gone; the cows have been joined by a rented bull called Break-Heart Maestro;. the pigs are making piglets; and the goats have turned out to be psychopaths. But despite the naysayers and (sometimes self-inflicted) setbacks, Jeremy remains irrepressibly optimistic about life at Diddly Squat. Because It's hard not to be when you get to harvest blackberries with a vacuum cleaner. And, after all, it shouldn't just be Break-heart Maestro who gets to enjoy a happy ending...  Product Information:  • ISBN:  9780241674895 • Author:  Jeremy Clarkson • Publisher:  Michael Joseph • Format:  Hardback • Pages:  192 • Dimensions: 15.2 x 2.6 x 23.6 cm

Partygate? More like party GREAT! While the UK locked down to prevent the spread of COVID-19, Boris Johnson's Number Ten played host to a series of boozy shindigs. Now, for the first time, you can learn to get wasted like they do in Whitehall. The Downing Street Party Guide will take you through every stage of a successful, pandemic-defying bash, from drafting invitations to answering awkward questions later. Contents include: Decor tips to avoid a 'John Lewis nightmare', The perfect playlist to start a Cabinet conga line & How to handle the subsequent police investigation. WHAT HAPPENS IN DOWNING STREET STAYS IN DOWNING STREET...UNTIL SOMEONE LEAKS IT.  Product Information:  • ISBN:  9781035410569 • Author:  Verity Bigg-Knight  • Publisher:  Wildfire • Format:  Paperback • Pages:  176 • Dimensions:  12.8 x 1.8 x 19.6 cm

The long-awaited return of the comedy national treasure... Blockbusters, Baywatch… Mastermind, Moonlighting… Porridge, Parkinson… Peter Kay takes you on a journey into the wonders of TV –back to the days when Dusty Bin was a household name, Robin of Sherwood was a pin-up and the Brookside siege was the event of the year. For a young telly-loving Peter growing up in Bolton, TV meant Sunday bath nights with a black-and-white portable, the unbridled excitement of the new Christmas TV guide and his elderly neighbour’s inconvenient hearing problem. Here, for the first time, he collects his TV memories and adventures together in this brilliant book. Join Peter as he finds success on the small screen, leaving his own unique footprint in the golden age of TV: from making tea at Granada Studios and marching along to ‘(Is This the Way to) Amarillo’ to hanging out in the Rovers Return, having run-ins with Bernard Manning and starring in possibly the worst Doctor Who episode of all time. You’ll go behind the scenes of the legendary Phoenix Nights, take The Road to Nowhere with Max & Paddy and discover how Peter created his BAFTA-winning performance in Car Share. So sit back and enjoy a journey through the wonderful world of television. Endearing, sidesplittingly funny and utterly unforgettable – T.V. sees Peter Kay at his vivid, nostalgic and hilarious best.  Product Information:  • ISBN:  9780008623319 • Author: Peter Kay • Publisher: HarperCollins • Format:  Paperback • Pages:  320 • Dimensions:  15.9 x 3.6 x 24 cm

Online Only! Get more for less with The Work’s expertly hand-picked Book Bundles. These are a collection of great quality products, grouped together to give you amazing value. Welcome to Jeremy Clarkson's Diddly Squat Farm! This incredible three-book bundle includes Jeremy Clarkson's Diddly Squat: ‘Til The Cows Come Home and his latest release, Diddly Squat: Pigs Might Fly!

From declaring my love to Vanessa Redgrave to being fed cockroaches by Steve Buscemi, from turnip-based comedy with Blackadder to being farted on by Arnold Schwarzenegger, from Graham Norton's sofa to Alan Cumming's campervan, my life has been (and continues to be) a riotous adventure. Oh Miriam! has been such a constant refrain in my life, said in all kinds of tones - laughs, surprised gasps and orgasmic sighs (I'm hoping for all those from you as you read on!) - that it had to be the title of this book. And with a castlist that stretches from Churchill to di Caprio, Dahl to Dietrich, Princess Margaret to Maggie Smith, I've got so much more to tell you and so much more to say. My chapters range from 'How to Stay Married' to 'Don't Let the Bastards Get You Down'. Discover how to break the thickest conversational ice; why swearing is actually good for you (though not on the Today programme); the unexpected things I actually learnt at school and what my Spice Girl name would be. Not to mention my Tale of the Unexpected and my very own Vagina Monologue. Buckle up and join me on another unforgettable adventure, but this time through my heart and head...  Product Information:  • ISBN:  9781399803359 • Author: Miriam Margolyes • Publisher:  John Murray • Format:  Hardback • Pages:  336 • Dimensions: 15.29 x 1.78 x 23.39 cm 

Dogs love a drink! When you're not looking, your four-legged friend is busy knocking them back. This book gathers the best photos of dogs getting buzzed off booze and looking pawfully pitiful the morning after. And to add to your amusement, these snaps of hedonistic and hazy hounds have been paired with hilarious captions telling us what their barking is all about. Raise a glass to these howl-raisers! Product Information:  • ISBN:  9781800070219 • Author:  Charlie Ellis • Publisher:  Summersdale • Format:  Hardback • Pages:  96 • Dimensions:  14.73 x 1.65 x 14.61 cm