Recommend some insanely funny novels

[Nikhar]

Hey Guys... I wanted to read some insanely funny novels. Any recommendations?

Edit:- And yeah, they shouldn't be disgusting. Thanks. :)

[Emil Miller]

Hey Guys... I wanted to read some insanely funny novels. Any recommendations?

Whatever else you read you will find 'Scoop' by Evelyn Waugh more than fits the bill. I like humorous writing but nothing beats Scoop for eye-watering humour.

[Kafka's Crow]

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas by Tom Robbins

All of PG Wodehouse books:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=wodehouse&x=0&y=0

[Nikhar]

Whatever else you read you will find 'Scoop' by Evelyn Waugh more than fits the bill. I like humorous writing but nothing beats Scoop for eye-watering humour.

I wikied and amazoned it. The book looks very promising. Thanks. I'll definitely try reading it. :)


A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas by Tom Robbins

All of PG Wodehouse books:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=wodehouse&x=0&y=0

Thanks for the suggestions. :)
A Confederacy of Dunces seems very nice. It's definitely got me interested.

Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas.. hmmm...not so sure.

[sixsmith]

Portnoy's Complaint - Philip Roth
The Great American Novel - Philip Roth
Something Happened - Joseph Heller
Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
The Information - Martin Amis
Success - Martin Amis
Lucky Jim - Kingsley Amis
The Old Devils - Kingsley Amis
Most of Wodehouse
**** and Bull - Will Self
Vile Bodies - Evelyn Waugh
Decline and Fall - Evelyn Waugh

[Nikhar]

Portnoy's Complaint - Philip Roth
The Great American Novel - Philip Roth
Something Happened - Joseph Heller
Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
The Information - Martin Amis
Success - Martin Amis
Lucky Jim - Kingsley Amis
The Old Devils - Kingsley Amis
Most of Wodehouse
**** and Bull - Will Self
Vile Bodies - Evelyn Waugh
Decline and Fall - Evelyn Waugh


Thanks sixsmith. That should keep me engaged for quite some time. :)

Edit:- I don't think I would be reading a few of those. I wikied them and they seem disgusting. But thanks nevertheless as a few of them seem very interesting.

[mona amon]

Ulysses - James Joyce

Any Dickens novel (Edit) They've got insanely funny parts. :)

[Nikhar]

Ulysses - James Joyce

Any Dickens novel (Edit) They've got insanely funny parts. :)

It's a mammoth book. I don't think I'm ready for it yet.

[dfloyd]

companion in that it tells an African story: Black Mischief by Evelyn Waugh.

[JBI]

The Studhorse Man - Robert Kroetsch.

[dicer]

I know this might seem like a bizarre suggestion, but I found 'Notes from the Underground' by Dostoevsky very funny. I still laugh to think of certain parts now, and I read it quite a few months ago. Love that book. Otherwise, I would probably agree with 'Catch-22', 'Lucky Jim' and Dickens. I usually appreciate Dickens humour more on a second reading, though, although I haven't read any for a while. For more modern suggestions, I've heard that 'The Eyre Affair' is meant to be funny, though I am waiting till after my exams to read it, and remember finding Robert Rankin's 'The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse' hilarious at the time. Nick Hornby is usually funny also, if you haven't read some of his books. Bill Bryson as well.

[TheFifthElement]

Catch 22, definitely. Or for something with stack loads of irony, Independent People by Halldor Laxness or the short stories of Italo Calvino (would recommend Numbers in the Dark). Richard Brautigan can be pretty funny too.

[milktea]

Cat's Cradle, The Sirens of Titan, Breakfast of Champions, and pretty much anything else by Kurt Vonnegut

Everyone mentioned Catch-22 already

Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome

Decameron by Boccaccio (might be too risque for your tastes though ^_^)

Not a novel, but fiction: Mark Twain's or Saki's short stories.

[Emil Miller]

I wikied and amazoned it. The book looks very promising. Thanks. I'll definitely try reading it. :)

Don't blame me if you die laughing.

[bounty]

someone above mentioned dickens--if you had to choose one, id say pickwick papers.

though i would not say they are "insanely comical", john irving's the hotel new hampshire and the world according to garp were pretty funny (but not without some tragedy).

[_Shannon_]

I roared reading David Lodge's The British Museum Is Falling Down. Any James Thurber is pretty assured to make you laugh, too.

[Kotetsu1442]

I'm a bit of a Douglas Adams fan, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is definitely worthwhile humor.

[_Shannon_]

I'm a bit of a Douglas Adams fan, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is definitely worthwhile humor.
My oldest son would definitely agree with you! Many a night I have heard him cackling in his room til the wee hours reading and re-reading those books!

[Nikhar]

companion in that it tells an African story: Black Mischief by Evelyn Waugh.

From what I've gathered from this thread, Evelyn Waugh wrote a lot of funny novels. Thanks for your suggestion. :)


The Studhorse Man - Robert Kroetsch.

Thanks JBI. :) But I guess, it would be a bit difficult to get hold of.


I know this might seem like a bizarre suggestion, but I found 'Notes from the Underground' by Dostoevsky very funny. I still laugh to think of certain parts now, and I read it quite a few months ago. Love that book. Otherwise, I would probably agree with 'Catch-22', 'Lucky Jim' and Dickens. I usually appreciate Dickens humour more on a second reading, though, although I haven't read any for a while. For more modern suggestions, I've heard that 'The Eyre Affair' is meant to be funny, though I am waiting till after my exams to read it, and remember finding Robert Rankin's 'The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse' hilarious at the time. Nick Hornby is usually funny also, if you haven't read some of his books. Bill Bryson as well.

Thanks for all the wonderful suggestions. I guess I'll be reading catch-22 soon since so many people recommend it. 'The Eyre Affair' seems to be just the kind of book I'm looking for.


Catch 22, definitely. Or for something with stack loads of irony, Independent People by Halldor Laxness or the short stories of Italo Calvino (would recommend Numbers in the Dark). Richard Brautigan can be pretty funny too.

Thanks TheFifthElement for your wonderful suggetsions. :)


Cat's Cradle, The Sirens of Titan, Breakfast of Champions, and pretty much anything else by Kurt Vonnegut

Everyone mentioned Catch-22 already

Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome

Decameron by Boccaccio (might be too risque for your tastes though ^_^)

Not a novel, but fiction: Mark Twain's or Saki's short stories.

Thanks MilkTea. I really need to look for Catch-22. ;)


Don't blame me if you die laughing.

I won't. That would be the best way to die anyways. :D


someone above mentioned dickens--if you had to choose one, id say pickwick papers.

though i would not say they are "insanely comical", john irving's the hotel new hampshire and the world according to garp were pretty funny (but not without some tragedy).

Thank you bounty. :)


I roared reading David Lodge's The British Museum Is Falling Down. Any James Thurber is pretty assured to make you laugh, too.

Thanks Shannon. It looks amusing. :)


I'm a bit of a Douglas Adams fan, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is definitely worthwhile humor.

Oh man, I can't wait to read this one. Awesumm suggetsion. Thanks. :)
Wiki says the sixth part in series is written by Eoin Colfer. I have read his Artemis Fowl and I found them very hillarious. Can't wait to read this one. :D

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Thank you everyone for suggestions. I have enough to keep me occupied for a long time now. One of the mods may lock this down... for the time being at least.

[Kotetsu1442]

...Oh man, I can't wait to read this one. Awesumm suggetsion. Thanks. :)
Wiki says the sixth part in series is written by Eoin Colfer. I have read his Artemis Fowl and I found them very hillarious. Can't wait to read this one. :D

Oh my gosh! I didn't even realize that there was a 6th one, how did that slip past me? I guess that means I now have a great excuse to re-read the rest of the series in celebration then go out and buy the new one.

Of course, I'm always nervous when one author, even one I enjoy, attempts to pick up another one's work, and I sometimes find myself cynical when a family member of a deceased author continues a popular series that they now control the rights to because it is too easy for them to allow the money to guide their interests more than the story. But if I had to pick an author to continue this series then I couldn't pick better than Eoin Colfer, so I'm going to trust that whoever is in charge of Adams' works now commissioned this one with the same fun spirit as the Adams made them in.

Glad to hear you're excited. Provided that you appreciate the sometimes dry, sometimes dark and often whimsical yet clever nature of British comedy (think Monty Python crossed with Neil Gaiman) this series is bound to be a hit.

[PeterL]

One of the funniest novels I have read is The Aluminum Man by G. C.. Edmondson. The infamous parody of LoTR, Bored of the Rings is dangerously funny.

Tom Holt's books are funny to hilaious.

[Leland Gaunt]

Most anything by Terry Pratchett, Kurt Vonnegut, and Chuck Palanhuk

[hillwalker]

Keith Waterhouse's 'Billy Liar' is full of laughs - rather a British, self-deprecating style of humour, but most certainly hilarious. And it's a slim book and an easy novel to get to grips with right from the start. The film did it no favours.

[lalalauren]

Thackeray's Vanity Fair is super funny..and I'd have to agree with those who recommended Dickens.

[Nikhar]

One of the funniest novels I have read is The Aluminum Man by G. C.. Edmondson. The infamous parody of LoTR, Bored of the Rings is dangerously funny.

Tom Holt's books are funny to hilaious.

Thanks PeterL. I am currently reading LoTR so I don't think its the best time to read Bored of The Rings. :D


Keith Waterhouse's 'Billy Liar' is full of laughs - rather a British, self-deprecating style of humour, but most certainly hilarious. And it's a slim book and an easy novel to get to grips with right from the start. The film did it no favours.

Thanks Hillwaker. :) I'll see if I can get hold of it.


Most anything by Terry Pratchett, Kurt Vonnegut, and Chuck Palanhuk

Thanks Leland. :) Thats the second time I am hearing the name of Terry Pratchett and Kurt Vonnegut in this thread. I guess I should get hold of a few of their books.


Thackeray's Vanity Fair is super funny..and I'd have to agree with those who recommended Dickens.

Thanks Lalalauren. :) I read David Copperfield by Dickens but that was long ago. I don't think I found it funny at that time. But maybe I didn't understand English good enough then. lol :D