The first collection of short stories from one of Britain's finest novelists and critics

A nameless man who has fallen out of love with life, refuses to get out of bed, with unexpected consequences. A sociologist recalls how he learned his first and formative lesson about the oppressive power of capitalism selling newspapers and magazines up and down the platforms of Waterloo station. Some years before the era of the Pill and the Permissive Society, four university friends travel to the Mediterranean for their first holiday together, where the climate is sultry and sex is on everyones mind. And a strong-willed young woman defies adverse circumstances to pursue the perfect wedding at all costs.

These are some of the characters that populate David Lodges shrewd, funny and delightfully entertaining short stories, collected here for the very first time. What prompted their publication in this form is a short story in itself, told by the author in his Foreword.

LONGLISTED FOR THE EDGE HILL SHORT STORY PRIZE 2017

David Lodge (CBE)s novels includeChanging Places,Small WorldandNice Work (shortlisted for the Booker) and, most recently,A Man of Parts. He has also written plays and screenplays, and several books of literary criticism. His works have been translated into more than thirty languages.

He is Emeritus Professor of English Literature at Birmingham, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and is a Chevalier de lOrdre des Arts et des Lettres.