The Inimitable Jeeves

By P. G. Wodehouse

First published together in 1923, “The Inimitable Jeeves” is a collection of short stories by P. G. Wodehouse featuring his famous characters Bertie Wooster and his wise valet, Jeeves. The stories were previously published in magazines before being collected together and most share the common theme of Bertie’s friend, Bingo Little, and his dramatic love life. The Inimitable Jeeves is the second collection of Jeeves stories, following “My Man Jeeves”, published in 1919, and appearing before “Carry On, Jeeves”, published in 1925. Many of Wodehouse’s most popular and hilarious tales appear in this timeless collection, such as “Aunt Agatha Takes the Count”, where Bertie’s intimidating Aunt Agatha tries to make him marry a boring, respectable young lady; “Comrade Bingo”, where Bingo shows he will do anything for his current love, including joining the Communist Party; and “The Great Sermon Handicap”, where Bertie, Bingo, and others bet on the length of the sermons of local parsons, which is considered to be one Wodehouse’s most entertaining stories. This popular collection from a master humorist shows why Bertie and Jeeves have remained such enduring and charming characters. This edition includes a biographical afterword.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Digireads.com Publishing
• Release date: Jan 16, 2020
• ISBN: 9781420973105

P. G. Wodehouse

P. G. Wodehouse was an English author and one of the most widely read humorists of the twentieth century.

Book preview

Chapter 1. Jeeves Exerts the Old Cerebellum

‘Morning, Jeeves,’ I said.

‘Good morning, sir,’ said Jeeves.

He put the good old cup of tea softly on the table by my bed, and I took a refreshing sip. Just right, as usual. Not too hot, not too sweet, not too weak, not too strong, not too much milk, and not a drop spilled in the saucer. A most amazing cove, Jeeves. So dashed competent in every respect. I‘ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. I mean to say, take just one small instance. Every other valet I’ve ever had used to barge into my room in the morning while I was still asleep, causing much misery: but Jeeves seems to know when I’m awake by a sort of telepathy. He always floats in with the cup exactly two minutes after I come to life. Makes a deuce of a lot of difference to a fellow’s day.

‘How’s the weather, Jeeves?’

‘Exceptionally clement, sir.’

‘Anything in the papers?’

‘Some slight friction threatening in the Balkans, sir. Otherwise, nothing.’

‘I say, Jeeves, a man I met at the club last night told me to put my shirt on Privateer for the two o’clock race this afternoon. How about it?’

‘I should not advocate it, sir. The stable is not sanguine.’

That was enough for me. Jeeves knows. How, I couldn’t say, but he knows. There was a time when I would laugh lightly, and go ahead, and lose my little all against his advice, but not now.

‘Talking of shirts,’ I said, ‘have those mauve ones I ordered arrived yet?’

‘Yes, sir. I sent them back.’

‘Sent them back?’

‘Yes, sir. They would not have become you.’

Well, I must say I’d thought fairly highly of those shirtings, but I bowed to superior knowledge. Weak? I don’t know. Most fellows, no doubt, are all for having their valets confine their activities to creasing trousers and what not without trying to run the home; but it’s different with Jeeves. Right from the first day he came to me, I have looked on him as a sort of guide, philosopher, and friend.

‘Mr. Little rang up on the telephone a few moments ago, sir. I informed him that you were not yet awake.’

‘Did he leave a message?’

‘No, sir. He mentioned that he had a matter of importance to discuss with you, but confided no details.’

‘Oh, well, I expect I shall be seeing him at the club.’

‘No doubt, sir.’

I wasn’t what you might call in a fever of impatience. Bingo Little is a chap I was at school with, and we see a lot of each other still. He’s the nephew of old Mortimer Little, who retired from business recently with a goodish pile. (You’ve probably heard of Little’s Liniment—It Limbers Up the Legs.) Bingo biffs about London on a pretty comfortable allowance given him by his uncle, and leads on the whole a fairly unclouded life. It wasn’t likely that anything which he described as a matter of importance would turn out to be really so frightfully important. I took it that he had discovered some new brand of cigarette which he wanted me to try, or something like that, and didn’t spoil my breakfast by worrying.

After breakfast I lit a cigarette and went to the open window to inspect the day. It certainly was one of the best and brightest.

‘Jeeves.’ I said.

‘Sir?’ said Jeeves. He had been clearing away the breakfast things, but at the sound of the young master’s voice cheesed it courteously.

‘You were absolutely right about the weather. It is a juicy morning.’

‘Decidedly, sir.’

‘Spring and all that.’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘In the spring, Jeeves, a livelier iris gleams upon the burnished dove.’

‘So I have been informed, sir.’

‘Right ho! Then bring me my whangee, my yellowest shoes, and the old green Homburg. I’m going into the Park to do pastoral dances.’

I don’t know if you know that sort of feeling you get on these days round about the end of April and the beginning of May, when the sky’s a light blue, with cotton-wool clouds, and there’s a bit of a breeze blowing from the west? Kind of uplifted feeling. Romantic, if you know what I mean. I’m not much of a ladies’ man, but on this particular morning it seemed to me that what I really wanted was some charming girl to buzz up and ask me to save her from assassins or something. So that it was a bit of an anti-climax when I merely ran into young Bingo Little, looking perfectly foul in a crimson satin tie decorated with horseshoes.

‘Hallo, Bertie,’ said Bingo.

‘My God, man!’ I gargled. ‘The cravat! The gent’s neckwear! Why? For what reason?’

‘Oh, the tie?’ He blushed. ‘I—er—I was given it.’

‘He seemed embarrassed, so I dropped the subject. We toddled along a bit, and sat down on a couple of chairs by the Serpentine.

‘Jeeves tells me you want to talk to me about something,’ I said.

‘Eh?’ said Bingo, with a start. ‘Oh yes, yes. Yes.’

I waited for him to unleash the topic of the day, but he didn’t seem to want to get along. Conversation languished. He stared straight ahead of him in a glassy sort of manner.

‘I say, Bertie,’ he said, after a pause of about an hour and a quarter.

‘Hallo!’

‘Do you like the name Mabel?’

‘No.’

‘No?’

‘No.’

‘You don’t think there’s a kind of music in the word, like the wind rustling gently through the tree-tops?’

‘No.’

He seemed disappointed for a moment; then cheered up.

‘Of course, you wouldn’t. You always were a fat-headed worm without any soul, weren’t you?’

‘Just as you say. Who is she? Tell me all.’

For I realized now that poor old Bingo was going through it once again. Ever since I have known him—and we were at school together—he has been perpetually falling in love with someone, generally in the spring, which seems to act on him like magic. At school he had the finest collection of actresses’ photographs of anyone of his time; and at Oxford his romantic nature was a byword.

You’d better come along and meet her at lunch,’ he said, looking at his watch.

‘A ripe suggestion,’ I said. ‘Where are you meeting her? At the Ritz?’

‘Near the Ritz.’

He was geographically accurate. About fifty yards east of the Ritz there is one of those blighted tea-and-bun shops you see dotted about all over London, and into this, if you’ll believe me, young Bingo dived like a homing rabbit; and before I had time to say a word we were wedged in at a table, on the brink of a silent pool of coffee left there by an early luncher.

I’m bound to say I couldn’t quite follow the development of the scenario. Bingo, while not absolutely rolling in the stuff, has always had a fair amount of the ready. Apart from what he got from his uncle, I knew that he had finished up the jumping season well on the right side of the ledger. Why, then, was he lunching the girl at this God-forsaken eatery? It couldn’t be because he was hard up.

Just then the waitress arrived. Rather a pretty girl.

‘Aren’t we going to wait—?’ I started to say to Bingo, thinking it somewhat thick that, in addition to asking a girl to lunch with him in a place like this, he should fling himself on the foodstuffs before she turned up, when I caught sight of his face, and stopped.

The man was goggling. His entire map was suffused with a rich blush. He looked like the Soul’s Awakening done in pink.

‘Hullo, Mabel!’ he said, with a sort of gulp.

‘Hallo!’ said the girl.

‘Mabel,’ said Bingo, ‘this is Bertie Wooster, a pal of mine.’

‘Pleased to meet you,’ she said. ‘Nice morning.’

‘Fine,’ I said.

‘You see I’m wearing the tie,’ said Bingo.

‘It suits you beautiful,’ said the girl.

Personally, if anyone had told me that a tie like that suited me, I should have risen and struck them on the mazzard, regardless of their age and sex; but poor old Bingo simply got all flustered with gratification, and smirked in the most gruesome manner.

‘Well, what’s it going to be today?’ asked the girl, introducing the business touch into the conversation.

Bingo studied the menu devoutly.

‘I’ll have a cup of cocoa, cold veal and ham pie, slice of fruit cake, and a macaroon. Same for you, Bertie?’

I gazed at the man, revolted. That he could have been a pal of mine all these years and think me capable of insulting the old tum with this sort of stuff cut me to the quick.

‘Or how about a bit of hot steak-pudding, with a sparkling limado to wash it down?’ said Bingo.

You know, the way love can change a fellow is really frightful to contemplate. This chappie before me, who spoke in that absolutely careless way of macaroons and limado, was the man I had seen in happier days telling the head-waiter at Claridge’s exactly how he wanted the chef to prepare the sole frite au gourmet aux champignons, and saying he would jolly well sling it back if it wasn’t just right. Ghastly! Ghastly!

A roll and butter and a small coffee seemed the only things on the list that hadn’t been specially prepared by the nastier-minded members of the Borgia family for people they had a particular grudge against, so I chose them, and Mabel hopped it.

‘Well?’ said Bingo rapturously.

I took it that he wanted my opinion of the female poisoner who had just left us.

‘Very nice,’ I said.

He seemed dissatisfied.

‘You don’t think she’s the most wonderful girl you ever saw?’ he said wistfully.

‘Oh, absolutely!’ I said, to appease the blighter. ‘Where did you meet her?’

‘At a subscription dance at Camberwell.’

‘What on earth were you doing at a subscription dance at Camberwell?’

‘Your man Jeeves asked me if I would buy a couple of tickets. It was in aid of some charity or other.’

‘Jeeves? I didn’t know he went in for that sort of thing.’

‘Well, I suppose he has to relax a bit every now and then. Anyway, he was there, swinging a dashed efficient shoe. I hadn’t meant to go at first, but I turned up for a lark. Oh, Bertie, think what I might have missed!’

‘What might you have missed?’ I asked, the old lemon being slightly clouded.

‘Mabel, you chump. If I hadn’t gone I shouldn’t have met Mabel.’

‘Oh, ah!’

At this point Bingo fell into a species of trance, and only came out of it to wrap himself round the pie and the macaroon.

‘Bertie,’ he said, ‘I want your advice.’

‘Carry on.’

‘At least, not your advice, because that wouldn’t be much good to anybody. I mean, you’re a pretty consummate old ass, aren’t you? Not that I want to hurt your feelings, of course.’

‘No, no, I see that.’

‘What I wish you would do is to put the whole thing to that fellow Jeeves of yours, and see what he suggests. You’ve often told me that he has helped other pals of yours out of messes. From what you tell me, he’s by way of being the brains of the family.’

‘He’s never let me down yet.’

‘Then put my case to him.’

‘What case?’

‘My problem.’

‘What problem?’

‘Why, you poor fish, my uncle, of course. What do you think my uncle’s going to say to all this? If I sprang it on him cold, he’d tie himself in knots on the hearthrug.’

‘One of these emotional johnnies, eh?’

‘Somehow or other his mind has got to be prepared to receive the news. But how?’

‘Ah!’

‘That’s a lot of help, that ah! You see, I’m pretty well dependent on the old boy. If he cut off my allowance, I should be very much in the soup. So you put the whole binge to Jeeves and see if he can’t scare up a happy ending somehow. Tell him my future is in his hands, and that, if the wedding bells ring out, he can rely on me, even unto half my kingdom. Well, call it ten quid. Jeeves would exert himself with ten quid on the horizon, what?’

‘Undoubtedly,’ I said.

I wasn’t in the least surprised at Bingo wanting to lug Jeeves into his private affairs like this. It was the first thing I would have thought of doing myself if I had been in a hole of any description. As I have frequently had occasion to observe, he is a bird of the ripest intellect, full of bright ideas. If anybody could fix things for poor old Bingo, he could.

I stated the case to him that night after dinner.

‘Jeeves.’

‘Sir?’

‘Are you busy just now?’

‘No, sir.’

‘I mean, not doing anything in particular?’

‘No, sir. It is my practice at this hour to read some improving book; but, if you desire my services, this can easily be postponed, or, indeed, abandoned altogether.’

‘Well, I want your advice. It’s about Mr. Little.’

‘Young Mr. Little, sir, or the elder Mr. Little, his uncle, who lives in Pounceby Gardens?’

Jeeves seemed to know everything. Most amazing thing. I’d been pally with Bingo practically all my life, and yet I didn’t remember having heard that his uncle lived anywhere in particular.

‘How did you know he lived in Pounceby Gardens?’ I said.

‘I am on terms of some intimacy with the elder Mr. Little’s cook, sir. In fact, there is an understanding.’

I’m bound to say that this gave me a bit of a start. Somehow I’d never thought of Jeeves going in for that sort of thing.

‘Do you mean you’re engaged?’

‘It may be said to amount to that, sir.’

‘Well, well!’

‘She is a remarkably excellent cook, sir,’ said Jeeves, as though he felt called on to give some explanation. ‘What was it you wished to ask me about Mr. Little?’

I sprang the details on him.

‘And that’s how the matter stands, Jeeves,’ I said. ‘I think we ought to rally round a trifle and help poor old Bingo put the thing through. Tell me about old Mr. Little. What sort of a chap is he?’

‘A somewhat curious character, sir. Since retiring from business he has become a great recluse, and now devotes himself almost entirely to the pleasures of the table.’

‘Greedy hog, you mean?’

‘I would not, perhaps, take the liberty of describing him in precisely those terms, sir. He is what is usually called a gourmet. Very particular about what he eats, and for that reason sets a high value on Miss Watson’s services.’

‘The cook?’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘Well, it looks to me as though our best plan would be to shoot young Bingo in on him after dinner one night. Melting mood, I mean to say, and all that.’

‘The difficulty is, sir, that at the moment Mr. Little is on a diet, owing to an attack of gout.’

‘Things begin to look wobbly.’

‘No, sir, I fancy that the elder Mr. Little’s misfortune may be turned to the younger Mr. Little’s advantage. I was speaking only the other day to Mr. Little’s valet, and he was telling me that it has become his principal duty to read to Mr. Little in the evenings. If I were in your place, sir, I should send young Mr. Little to read to his uncle.’

‘Nephew’s devotion, you mean? Old man touched by kindly action, what?’

‘Partly that, sir. But I would rely more on young Mr. Little’s choice of literature.’

‘That’s no good. Jolly old Bingo has a kind face, but when it comes to literature he stops at the Sporting Times.’

‘That difficulty may be overcome. I would be happy to select books for Mr. Little to read. Perhaps I might explain my idea a little further?’

‘I can’t say I quite grasp it yet.’

‘The method which I advocate is what, I believe, the advertisers call Direct Suggestion, sir, consisting as it does of driving an idea home by constant repetition. You may have had experience of the system?’

‘You mean they keep on telling you that some soap or other is the best, and after a bit you come under the influence and charge round the corner and buy a cake?’

‘Exactly, sir. The same method was the basis of all the most valuable propaganda during the recent war. I see no reason why it should not be adopted to bring about the desired result with regard to the subject’s views on class distinctions. If young Mr. Little were to read day after day to his uncle a series of narratives in which marriage with young persons of an inferior social status was held up as both feasible and admirable, I fancy it would prepare the elder Mr. Little’s mind for the reception of the information that his nephew wishes to marry a waitress in a tea-shop.’

‘Are there any books of that sort nowadays? The only ones I ever see mentioned in the papers are about married couples who find life grey, and can’t stick each other at any price.’

‘Yes, sir, there are a great many, neglected by the reviewers but widely read. You have never encountered All for Love, by Rosie M. Banks?’

‘No.’

‘Nor A Red, Red Summer Rose, by the same author?’

‘No.’

‘I have an aunt, sir, who owns an almost complete set of Rosie M. Banks’. I could easily borrow as many volumes as young Mr. Little might require. They make very light, attractive reading.’

‘Well, it’s worth trying.’

‘I should certainly recommend the scheme, sir.’

‘All right, then. Toddle round to your aunt’s tomorrow and grab a couple of the fruitiest. We can but have a dash at it.’

‘Precisely, sir.’

Chapter 2. No Wedding Bells for Bingo

Bingo reported three days later that Rosie M. Banks was the goods and beyond a question the stuff to give the troops. Old Little had jibbed somewhat at first at the proposed change of literary diet, he not being much of a lad for fiction and having stuck hitherto exclusively to the heavier monthly reviews; but Bingo had got chapter one of All for Love past his guard before he knew what was happening, and after that there was nothing to it. Since then they had finished A Red, Red Summer Rose, Madcap Myrtle and Only a Factory Girl, and were half-way through The Courtship of Lord Strathmorlick.

Bingo told me all this in a husky voice over an egg beaten up in sherry. The only blot on the thing from his point of view was that it wasn’t doing a bit of good to the old vocal cords, which were beginning to show signs of cracking under the strain. He had been looking his symptoms up in a medical dictionary, and he thought he had got ‘clergyman’s throat’. But against this you had to set the fact that he was making an undoubted hit in the right quarter, and also that after the evening’s reading he always stayed on to dinner; and, from what he told me, the dinners turned out by old Little’s cook had to be tasted to be believed. There were tears in the old blighter’s eyes as he got on the subject of the clear soup. I suppose to a fellow who for weeks had been tackling macaroons and limado it must have been like Heaven.

Old Little wasn’t able to give any practical assistance at these banquets, but Bingo said that he came to the table and had his whack of arrowroot, and sniffed the dishes, and told stories of entrées he had had in the past, and sketched out scenarios of what he was going to do to the bill of fare in the future, when the doctor put him in shape; so I suppose he enjoyed himself, too, in a way. Anyhow, things seemed to be buzzing along quite satisfactorily, and Bingo said he had got an idea which, he thought, was going to clinch the thing. He wouldn’t tell me what it was, but he said it was a pippin.

‘We make progress, Jeeves,’ I said.

‘That is very satisfactory, sir.’

‘Mr. Little tells me that when he came to the big scene in Only a Factory Girl, his uncle gulped like a stricken bull-pup.’

‘Indeed, sir?’

‘Where Lord Claude takes the girl in his arms, you know, and says—’

‘I am familiar with the passage, sir. It is distinctly moving. It was a great favourite of my aunt’s.’

‘I think we’re on the right track.’

‘It would seem so, sir.’

‘In fact, this looks like being another of your successes. I’ve always said, and I always shall say, that for sheer brains, Jeeves, you stand alone.

Reviews for The Inimitable Jeeves

[therebelprince · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Inimitable Jeeves is a collection of early Jeeves and Wooster short stories - all published individually between 1918 and 1922 - which form an episodic novel. (The seams are well hidden, but each story can really stand alone.)

If you're keen to read the Jeeves stories in order, I recommend the omnibus The World of Jeeves which collects all the short stories, and includes these in their "definitive" versions, which include some reworking.

It's worth noting that Wodehouse was past 40 when this collection was published - and he still had another 50 years of writing Jeeves stories to go! Bertie's narrative voice, Jeeves' exquisite manner, and the gallery of grotesques and incompetents who surround them - they're all fully formed this early in the game. It's a satisfying collection, however I strongly believe that Wodehouse is at his best in novel form. The short stories can begin to tire if read in excess - Wodehouse is, after all, like eating a packet of sweets or drinking an entire bottle of fine wine. The pitch-perfect conjunction of interlaced plots would be the hallmark of this series, once he started writing long-form versions in the 1930s.

Still, rather marvelous.

[maydacat_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This collection of Bertie’s antics are sure to amuse readers. One wonders how Bertie managed to get out of his many fixes before Jeeves was there to rescue him from his antics. The humor in these pages never seems dated and is just as funny as when they were first penned.

[hopeevey · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I enjoy the narration as much, if not more, than the story itself.

I've been listening to these wildly out of order - it was fun to hear the backstory for some of the shenanigans in books I'd already heard :)

[krazy4katz · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I can't believe this but I must be the only person in the WORLD (well maybe there is one more person) who doesn't like P.G. Wodehouse. This is the second one I have read and I just find them dull. Wish I liked them!

[lydia1879 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I usually read Wodehouse's Wooster and Jeeves when I'm in a reading slump. The warm, sunny prose sets me right after a chapter and then I go off and read whatever I fancy.

This time, however, I decided to finish the entire book. And I did enjoy it! It was so witty and if there's ever a man to write proper British banter, it would be Wodehouse. However, after some time, I found Bertie Wooster to be seriously irritating. I found myself rolling my eyes a lot at his general incompetence, which I know is the point, but some of the chapters were difficult to finish.

I did appreciate the writing and how neatly Jeeves managed to wrap up everyone's loose ends by the end of each chapter but I need a little break from Wooster's gentlemanly exploits, bets and trifles.

I think I'll save my next Wodehouse for a rainy day, when I don't know what to read. But I'll probably only read a chapter at a time. c:

3.5 stars

[chazzifrazz · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Once again, Bertie Wooster's bacon is saved by his valet Jeeves.

Due to a healthy inheritance, Bertie is able to enjoy the good life, spending time at the clubs or various country homes or just going about town to all the good places. That is unless his Aunt Agatha commands he appearance/participation in some sort of event while trying to marry this confirmed bachelor off. Or when his good friend Bingo needs help with his latest love, which are ever changing. Or when Claude and Eustace, the twins, need watching.

Jeeves' connections and talent for creative solutions come into play to resolve the current fix that has bound his master up. Even if Jeeves doesn't approve of the purple socks or the old Etonian Spats that Bertie has added to his sartorial style. Jeeves also prefers the quiet life.

Good for smiles and laughs in the style of 1923 when Wodehouse wrote the series. A good, fun read.

[philsyphe · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Jeeves is arguably P. G. Wodehouse’s greatest character creation. In this volume Jeeves hovers around in the background until brought forth by Bertie Wooster to help him or a friend out of a tight spot.

This isn’t a novel in the strictest sense but more of a chronology of short stories with running themes and reoccurring characters. Some chapters work better than others. The best ones feature some top quality humour.

A dashed good read.

[ctpress_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

“How does he look, Jeeves?"
"Sir?"
"What does Mr Bassington-Bassington look like?"
"It is hardly my place, sir, to criticize the facial peculiarities of your friends.”

Another fresh breeze from the wonderland of Wodehouse. The best of the Jeeves and Wooster-short story collections I have read so far.

Bertie and Jeeves again and again have to help love-struck Bingo Little out of scrapes as he continues to fall in love at first sight.

However the most funny story is not about Bingo Little, but “The Great Sermon Handicap” as Wooster and his friends tries to predict which priest will deliver the longest sermon on a given sunday. Of course there’s a lot of foul play - and Jeeves outsmarts them all. Hilarious.

“What are the chances of a cobra biting Harold, Jeeves?"
"Slight, I should imagine, sir. And in such an event, knowing the boy as intimately as I do, my anxiety would be entirely for the snake.”

Honoria, you see, is one of those robust, dynamic girls with the muscles of a welter-weight and a laugh like a squadron of cavalary charging over a tin bridge.

[thornton37814 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I found this first installment of Bertie and Jeeves to be rather tiresome. The adventures sometimes featured Aunt Agatha, a friend named Bingo who had an uncle that also figure prominently, and a string of female acquaintances of Bingo's. I wonder if part of the reason I grew tired of it is the similarity in plot of several of the stories that loosely belong sequentially together and the continued "introduction" to some of the characters. It was first serialized and later put into book form. Jeeves does have a way of handling most any situation. I listened to the audio version of the book. I suspect others might enjoy it more than I did. I'm not much into gambling, and that was central to several stories.

[bookson23rd · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Bertie Wooster and his manservant, Jeeves, embark on many adventures involving family and friends. Its guaranteed that hilarity will ensue. While Bertie is enmeshed in some crazy scheme, Jeeves undoubtedly will go behind the scenes to save the day. One never knows what sort of silly situation Bertie or his friends will end up in.

Well-off Bertie is not exactly like anyone I’ve ever known. I did know a man who didn’t bother working as he had enough money to live on but he had a rather more modern lifestyle than Bertie does. After all, these stories were published around 1920.

There is no comparison with the jaunty, succinct exchanges between Bertie and Jeeves. They are hilarious in that they convey so much with so few words.

‘Steggles is a bad man. From now on, Jeeves, we must watch Harold like hawks.’
‘Undoubtedly, sir.’
‘Ceaseless vigilance, what?’
‘Precisely, sir.’
‘You wouldn’t care to sleep in his room, Jeeves?’
‘No, sir, I should not.’
‘No, nor would I, if it comes to that. But dash it all,’ I said, ‘we’re letting ourselves get rattled! We’re losing our nerve. This won’t do. How can Steggles possibly get at Harold, even if he wants to?’
There was no cheering young Bingo up. He’s one of those birds who simply leap at the morbid view, if you give them half a chance.
‘There are all sorts of ways of nobbling favourites,’ he said, in a sort of death-bed voice. ‘You ought to read some of these racing novels. In Pipped on the Post, Lord Jasper Mauleverer as near as a toucher outed Bonny Betsy by bribing the head lad to slip a cobra into her stable the night before the Derby!’
‘What are the chances of a cobra biting Harold, Jeeves?’
‘Slight, I should imagine, sir. And in such an event, knowing the boy as intimately as I do, my anxiety would be entirely for the snake.’
‘Still, unceasing vigilance, Jeeves.’
‘Most certainly, sir.’

My favorite story in this collection is The Metropolitan Touch. Bertie’s friend Bingo Little thinks he’s in love and will do just about anything to make himself look worthy to the young lady of his affection. This includes taking over the directing of a Christmas play in a rural community. Of course he has no experience at directing plays. Absolutely brilliant! I seriously laughed out loud throughout the performance part.

Even though Jeeves always saves the day, my favorite character is Bertie. I love his exasperation and his chirpy colloquialisms. “What the deuce?” “a corking reward,” and “it will be a frost” are just three examples.

I’ve previously read Jeeves in the Morning and Carry On, Jeeves and while I love them both, I think I love this book even more! Do read this book if you enjoy old-style British humor.

[ashishg_50 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I will not be able to do justice to this work as my binge reading of Wodehouse is damping my humour nerve due to my increased acquaintance with his methods and limiting plot twists. That said, book is not bad, and even had me laughing 4-5 places in whole, though with Wodehouse I have come to expect to be thrown in fits every other page. Forced circumstances contrived to bring out strange occurrences and and infallibility of Jeeves can get on nerve. In fact, by the end I was treating less like humour fiction and more like being in personal competition with Jeeves in solving the soup in which author inevitably falls. I am easily imagine story to be really cliched and yet funny motion picture.

[mickyfine · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Bertie Wooster's life of aristocratic ease in 1920s London is constantly being overturned by the antics and whims of his nearest and dearest. Whether it's Bingo Little falling in love with girl after girl, Bertie's Aunt Agatha making demands on Bertie's life and person, or the escapades of his cousins, Claude and Eustace, Bertie's life is a series of scrapes from which he is often rescued by his dear valet, Jeeves. Unless, of course, Bertie and Jeeves are currently having a spat over some poorly chosen accessories.

Wodehouse is one of those authors I've been meaning to get to for ages. I knew I would love him and find the books a delight and I'm glad I finally succumbed to the charms of Jeeves and Bertie. With plenty of madcap plans, near disasters, and a brilliant dash of dry humour, the book was fun from start to finish. If you enjoy the period and British humour, these books should be picked up as quickly as possible.

[leslie398 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This early Jeeves book is more of a collection of short stories, most involving Bertie Wooster's pal Bingo Little, than a novel. While highly amusing, it isn't quite as hilarious as "The Code of the Woosters" or "Jeeves in the Morning". However, I think it is a good introduction to the world of Jeeves & Wooster.

Jonathan Cecil continues to delight me with his narration of Jeeves, Bertie, and the rest. I was a little taken aback at first by his voice for Bingo, which has the slightest trace of a lisp, but I quickly got used to it.

[russellbittner · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I’ve said it before (in my 3/21/14 review of My Man Jeeves, to be specific), and I’ll say it again: the prose of P. G. Wodehouse is delísh … the bee’s knees … or if “hell-brew” (p. 67) is your choice for metaphor, good to the last drop! How he does it, how he nails it with every word and never grows stale or hackneyed remains a complete mystery to me. I can only imagine what it must’ve cost him to remain so piquantly original in his wit—not just line after line, but book after book.

In the vernacular peculiar to Wodehouse, people don’t just drop in for a spot of tea or a chat, they “toddle round” to the same end and “have a dash at it” (both on p. 11). They also “curvet” (p. 83); “scud off” (p. 84); “pop off” (p. 86); “whizz for” (p. 88); “pour [silently] in” (p. 89); “sally forth (p. 97); and “trickle round” (p. 210). One of Wodehouse’s characters doesn’t just look a bit down on his luck, but rather resembles “a sheep with a secret sorrow” (p. 30). When Bertie — the principal character, along with Jeeves, of almost all of Wodehouse’s books — himself runs into a little unexpected luck, the right words to express his pleasure come roiling out: “Well, then, dash it, I’m on velvet. Absolutely reclining on the good old plush!” (p. 36). And if you should happen to visit the same archly conservative Senior Liberal Club where Bingo and Bertie decide to meet one day, you may also conclude — if somewhat less colorfully — that it is indeed “the eel’s eyebrows” (p. 205).

I could easily strike up the band all day with P. G.’s metaphors and similes, but I’d prefer to leave that little surprise to you, a possible reader of The Inimitable Jeeves (just for starters). Instead, I’ll strike up that same band with the opening paragraph of Chapter 10 (“Startling Dressiness of a Lift Attendant”):

“The part which old George had written for the chump Cyril took up about two pages of typescript; bit it might have been Hamlet, the way that poor, misguided pinhead worked himself to the bone over it. I suppose, if I heard him read his lines once I did it a dozen times in the first couple of days. He seemed to think that my only feeling about the whole affair was one of enthusiastic admiration, and that he could rely on my support and sympathy. What with trying to imagine how Aunt Agatha was going to take this thing, and being woken up out of the dreamless in the small hours every other night to give my opinion of some new bit of business which Cyril had invented, I became more or less the good old shadow. And all the time Jeeves remained still pretty cold and distant about the purple socks. It’s this sort of thing that ages a chappie, don’t you know, and makes his youthful joie-de-vivre go a bit groggy in the knees” (p. 87).

If I had to venture a guess as to what it is (other than his choice of vocabulary – or ‘vocab,’ as P. G. would no doubt have it) that Wodehouse employs in the way of literary device to achieve his comedic effect, I’d have to say that it’s his peculiar combination, often in close proximity if not in precise juxtaposition, of hyperbole and typical British understatement. This combination is a source of constant titillation to whatever cluster of sympathetic ganglia rides herd from a reader’s eye, via the brain, clear down to that same reader’s funny-bone.

It takes a true master, however, to do this and not overdo it — and P. G. Wodehouse is just such a master.

And as Wodehouse would no doubt write if he were reading this claptrap that passes for a review: “‘Sorry to interrupt the feast of reason and flow of soul and so forth, but—’” (p. 88).

RRB
04/18/14
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.A.

[iamjonlarson · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Thoroughly enjoyed it. The plot barely matters, its P.G. Wodehouse's way with words. I would rate it higher but this is my first stroll with Wodehouse and I want to leave room for his even better stuff.

[jen6e6moore · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The adventures of Bingo Little, who just cannot help falling in love with pretty much every woman he meets. This one reads more like a series of connected short stories than a single novel, which probably contributes to me forgetting what it's about every time I put it down.

[mahallett · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

reader good. story very frothy.

[ncgraham_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is my second Wodehouse book, but my first foray into the world of Jeeves and Wooster, and I have to say ... I'm a bit disappointed.

My first Wodehouse was Leave it to Psmith, and I'm trying to figure out why I loved that and not The Inimitable Jeeves. Perhaps it's because The Inimitable Jeeves is a short story collection. I like short stories, but after one story after another of Bingo Little falling in love, he and Bertie getting into a scrape, and Jeeves helping them out of it, it all got a little tired and redundant. Perhaps reading them separately rather than back to back would have helped: they originally appeared serially. But then I miss the wonderful, crazy, interwoven plot lines in Leave it to Psmith, so perhaps I should just stick to Wodehouse's novels. There are bits of Psmith I remember to this day: his hilarious advertisement, his bungled meeting with Freddie Threepwood, his proposal to Eve, Baxter and his flowerpots. The Inimitable Jeeves, while funny, had nothing on that level of comic brilliance, in my opinion.

Of course, The Inimitable Jeeves was not only my introduction to Bertie and co., but the world's as well. Maybe they got better as they went along. I certainly hope so.

[ecw0647 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Wodehouse is truly a classic, and if you ever need a lift and want something funny to read, you cannot fail by choosing any Jeeves novel. Jeeves is Bertie’s butler. Bertie is the stereotypical British upper crust, living on inherited money, avoiding work at all costs, who thinks he’s brilliant, but really is dumber than a post, and who needs Jeeves to get him out of all sorts of bizarre scrapes. The common thread in this series of vignettes is Bertie’s friend Bingo, who manages to fall in love with every woman he meets, declaring each is perfect and the love of his life. My favorite is the time Bingo fell for the daughter of a revolutionary radical. In order to ingratiate himself with the girl and her family, Bingo bought a beard and disguised himself as a fellow comrade, denouncing his uncle, old Lord Bittlesham, in public. Of course, had Bingo actually married the girl, he would have been disinherited and forced to go to work, an unconscionable outcome. So in typical Jeeves fashion, the butler just mentions to a jealous suitor that Bingo is not what he appears to be. “I fear I may carelessly have disclosed Mr. Little’s (Bingo) identity to Mr. Butt (jealous suitor) . . .Indeed, now that I recall the incident, sir, I distinctly remember saying that Mr. Little’s work for the Cause really seemed to me to deserve something in the nature of public recognition.” The public unmasking that resulted led to the termination of the relationship between Bingo and the young lady. Bingo continues to make a fool of himself, requiring the assistance of Bertie (for money) and Jeeves (for intelligence). I find the series to be a savage indictment of the British upper crust who can’t seem to do anything without their butlers, far superior in ability, but who regardless think they are smarter than anyone, positive drones on society.

[charlottejones952 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book is a collection of stories revolving around Bertie Wooster and the mishaps that happen in his life. I have previously watched and enjoyed the television series starring Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry and felt obliged to read at least one of the books that Jeeves and Wooster is based on.

The plot was interesting throughout as the chapters were each separate stories but continued on from each other so you could easily read this in one session. It is only 253 pages long so I managed to read this in a day and was drawn in by the various events that take place.

The characters were my favourite part of this book. Wooster, the protagonist, was a bit annoying to be honest, mostly because he seemed to just go along with everything that he was told, but Jeeves was definitely intriguing and held the reader's interest. I found him mysterious and funny in parts and felt that he interacted well with all of the side characters and added a lot to the development of the characters and plots.

This book was originally published in 1923 and this is evident by the type of language that is used throughout. I found it difficult to get used to but got into it eventually and couldn't put it down! The individual stories tied together really well but I feel they could also be read separately.

Overall I would give this book 4 out of 5 stars as I found the writing style difficult in parts and it was not as funny as I thought it would be, but this was an enjoyable read and I will definitely pick up some of the others in this series at some point.

[mamzel_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Jeeves is the perfect butler. He is always in the background fulfilling his master's needs and ensuring he maintains a proper wardrobe. Bertie Wooster is lucky to have such a man since he needs the help dealing with his aunt who is bent on getting him married and his friends who are always imposing on him to participate in betting pools and intervening between them and their families. Whenever Bertie finds himself in trouble, Jeeves always manages to head off disaster.

I listened to this in audio form and the reader had the perfect posh British accent to voice the characters. A smashing time!

[nodosaurus · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Another collection of stories about Bertie Wooster and Reginald Jeeves. It is enjoyable to watch Jeeves master every situation that Bertie can get into, whether due to his own bumbling or the machinations of his relatives. In this case, Aunt Agatha who is trying to set Bertie up for matrimony. Of course this would destroy Bertie's character and may even require him to fire Jeeves. In story after story, Jeeves executes the most unexpected solution to a seemingly impossible problem.

The book got off to a slow start, but did provide the expected surprises and humor to make for an enjoyable read. This book, unlike the other stories (that I've read) is a novel as opposed to a collection of short stories, but feels like short stories with recurrent and common themes. As with the others, this book is a light read and fairly quick, and worth the time.

[shabacus · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Some of the best Jeeves is also some of the earliest.

Full disclosure--I am a huge fan of P.G. Wodehouse, and my default rating in four stars.

Originally written as short stories, this collection has been reworked as a novel and holds up very well in that form. Although this book very much defines the relationship between Bertie and Jeeves, there are a few surprising elements (Jeeves was engaged? Insulting his master behind his back?) that don't quite gel with later writings. As much as Bertie and Jeeves were negotiating their relationship so was Wodehouse discovering the dynamic between his most famous characters.

This book is also Bingo Little's story, and I'm only sorry that Wodehouse had so little to do for his heroes after they were married, because I would have liked to see Bingo more in the annals of Jeeves and Wooster. (He makes an occasional appearance in a short story here and there, but never reaches the same starring role again.)

Several of the chapters in this collection are my favorite in all of Wodehouse, such as the Great Sermon Handicap and its immediate sequel, the Purity of the Turf. To me, these encapsulate the spirit of early Wodehouse, the boundless optimism and the penchant for mischief.

Recommendation: A great place to start reading about Bertie and Jeeves, and highly recommended to anyone who wants a good laugh in a light, easy-to-swallow package.

[jellyn_7 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I can certainly understand why people like these stories! I don't even know what I can say about them except that they're very fun, very good, and very well-written.It's not a novel so much as a series of short stories loosely strung together. And the short stories I previously read seem to slot into the middle of here somewhere. Although I could be wrong. They're certainly allowed to pop over to the States more than once.I think it's the voice that really carries this. The comedic situations and scrapes would be fine, but without the personality and the voice of the narrator, it just would not work even a tenth as well.I do keep hearing Hugh Laurie. (And Stephen Fry to a lesser extent.) But that's really just helping it. :)Writing this reminds me I need to track down the next book.

[labfs39 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

'It is young men like you, Bertie, who make the person with the future of the race at heart despair. Cursed with too much money, you fritter away in idle selfishness a life which might have been made useful, helpful and profitable. You do nothing but waste your time on frivolous pleasures. You are simply an antisocial animal, a drone. Bertie, it is imperative that you marry.'

To listen to his Aunt Agatha, one would think that Bertie Wooster was worthless, but for the prospect of a good marriage. To his friends, however, he is a splendid chap, excellent host, and friend of the finest order. One friend in particular is always coming to Bertie for help with his seemingly endless, disastrous love affairs. Being a good sport, but rather obtuse, Bertie jumps in with advice for Bingo, and it is up to Bertie's valet, Jeeves, to sort things out. Jeeves is the quintessential British butler, proper to a fault, with impeccable taste, and a genius for solving problems. Bertie relies on him as his "guide, philosopher, and friend." Through a series of interrelated stories, Jeeves saves Bingo from his fickle love affairs and keeps Bertie from fashion mistakes that might jeopardize his standing as a gentleman.

This is the first book that P.G. Wodehouse wrote about Bertie and Jeeves, and it was published in 1923. I love the witty writing and the ludicrous situations. My one complaint about this book is that the situations with Bingo and his loves get a bit tedious. But interspersed are a couple of stories about Bertie's irrepressible cousins, Claude and Eugene, and even one about a marital near miss for the ultimate bachelor himself. The next time I need a good laugh, I will pick up the second Jeeves novel and settle in. Great fun.

[tjsjohanna_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

What I enjoyed most about this novel was all the British expressions and the dry humor, not to mention how Jeeves has his employer wrapped around his little finger. I loved how he always managed to make Bertie get rid of clothing that Jeeves didn't like.

[beserene · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I love the Jeeves stories. Yes, I know that it's really the same story told over and over again in the same book and in different books and the only things that change -- occasionally -- are the character names, but still... it's funny every damn time.

And that is why, when I really need something sharp to make me chortle, I turn to Wodehouse's Jeeves. Those who do not appreciate British humor or who don't have any understanding of the old class system will probably lose patience with these books quite quickly, but for the rest of us, there is no one like Jeeves. And, of course, our ridiculous narrator, Bertie Wooster. The antics of the aforementioned individuals -- though "antic" really only describes one of them -- inform a hundred other novels and authors, from Evelyn Waugh to Terry Pratchett to Connie Willis. Anyone who thinks the classics are stuffy should read a good bit of Wodehouse. Recommended.

[muckleflugga · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is the first Jeeves & Wooster book I've actually read - although I have watched the TV series several times over. I really enjoyed it but I suspect that all the Jeeves and Wooster books are written along a similar formula. Still; some very amusing characters, plots and sub-plots which kept me entertained.

[smiler69 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I don't know what I was expecting from my first P. G. Wodehouse, but I can't say I was either disappointed or much surprised with this series of inter-connected short stories. The ongoing gag of Jeeves getting upset at Bertie for making what he considers to be sartorial faux-pas was amusing, as was Bertie's friend Bingo's insistence on falling helplessly in love with every girl he laid his eyes on. It's a kind of old-fashioned British humour that is comforting and elicited a few chuckles. I was warned that Wodehouse is best appreciated in short bursts, since the stories tend to get repetitious after a while, and though I heeded the warning, I still found the stories a bit tiresome after a while. I thought the audiobook was a good introduction because a proper British accent does go a long way sometimes. I have the second Jeeves book on my shelves, but I can't say I'm dying to get to it. I won't toss it out either, because sometimes blandness is just the kind of thing I'm in the mood for. That said, when it comes to 1920s British upper class humour, I think I'd rather read Vile Bodies all over again any day, though of course it's not nearly as relaxing.

[iftyzaidi · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Wonderful. Even, dare I say it, inimitable! This is the first Jeeves and Wooster book I've read and honestly I can't say why it too me so long to get round to reading it.