Dark Humor Satire

Each of the judges of the Elysian Prize for literature has a reason for accepting the job. For the chairman, MP Malcolm Craig, it is backbench boredom, media personality Jo Cross is on the hunt for a 'relevant' novel, and Oxbridge academic Vanessa Shaw is determined to discover good writing. But for Penny Feathers of the Foreign Office, it's all just getting in the way of writing her own thriller.

Anna is a young Hollywood film executive with a gift for picking box office winners. When she is passed over at work and in love, she begins to question herself. And when an escaped psychiatric patient crosses her path, she is intrigued by his insight. Anna finds herself surrounded by brilliantly vibrant and outrageously eccentric characters who, like many of us, are shaped by our pasts.

Sir Harry Panter’s political career is ascending - the top job is in his sights - but he can’t take another scandal. He doesn’t know that his wife, Lady Verity, has started the day impaled on a late, married vicar, or that Lucy, his beautiful new intern, thinks of herself as a Trojan Horse with scandalous intentions. But a rival has emerged, who has secrets of his own. Will Sir Harry be able to unseat him before he succumbs to his burning desire for Lucy? Or will Lady Verity, who is having a crisis of passion, be able to find it with her husband?

Follow a man barely deserving of the title as he flails through a turgid cesspit of human depravity, only to discover that he’s the one bunging up its U-bend. Wrongly Writing has even more psychiatrists, anaphylaxis, and cringing social ineptitude than the first Wrong Book, and proves that while editors exist for a reason, the author clearly doesn’t.

Jaakko ist 37, als sein Arzt ihm eröffnet, dass er bald sterben wird: Jemand hat ihn vergiftet. Das an sich ist schon genug, um einem Mann so richtig den Tag zu verderben. Leider wird Jaakko zu Hause auch noch Zeuge, wie ihn seine Frau mit Petri betrügt, dem jungen knackigen Angestellten der gemeinsamen Firma. Der Firma, die jüngst gefährliche Konkurrenz bekommen hat. Jaakko beschließt herauszufinden, wer ihn um die Ecke bringen will. Und er wird sein Unternehmen für die Zeit nach seinem Tod fit machen.

When headhunter Fabrice Valantine faces a smoking ban at work, he decides to undertake a course of hypnotherapy to rid himself of the habit. At first the treatment works, but his stress levels begin to rise when he is passed over for an important promotion and he finds himself lighting up again - but with none of his previous enjoyment. Then he discovers something terrible: he accidentally causes a man's death, and needing a cigarette to calm his nerves, he enjoys it more than any other previous smoke.

Charlie Roebuck knows all about ''showbiz''. He's spent his adult life in front of the camera, an expert in the art of the condescending smile, a genius at appearing to give a damn. Be it grilling bent politicians or dissecting the personal lives of the great and good, it's all the same to Charlie, all grist to the mill. But when he is forced to front the last series of Pinches of Salt he fears the worst. For the past 30 years the show has been following five lacklustre individuals through their tiresome lives and every five years the TV company descend to pick over their bones.

When Henry First enters his restaurant in a competition that he cannot win, only a miracle - or a chance discovery - can save him. Henry First is a darkly funny and multi-layered novel; a fast-paced story where people do despicable things to one another - all in the service of a jolly good meal.

Joel Huhta ist Dorfpfarrer in Hurmevaara, einem beschaulichen finnischen Dorf. Ein nachdenklicher, warmherziger Mann, dessen Glauben an das Gute im Menschen auf eine harte Probe gestellt wird, als zunächst seine geliebte Ehefrau auf Abwege zu geraten scheint. Vor allem aber, als der Rennwagen des Rallye-Fahrers Tarvainen während einer besonders waghalsigen Fahrt durch den verschneiten Wald von einem Meteoriten getroffen wird. Der Meteorit kommt auf Tarvainens Beifahrersitz zur Ruhe, die Dorfgemeinschaft dagegen gerät gewaltig in Aufregung.

When Curmudgeon Avenue introduces sisters Edna and Edith Payne, their presence is not welcomed by the proud, yet grouchy Victorian terrace. Widowed Edith is looking for love, and dates one of Edna's ex-boyfriends Maurice. This does not end well, especially for the cat. Edna is heartbroken after her long-term partner moved to France and is now unhappily cohabiting with her idiot sister.

And Lead Us Not is a comic novel about Wally Zeringue, a high school dropout who becomes president of the United States. Wally has enemies - among them, Dan Bitterman, a former classmate who is now a reporter for the president's hometown weekly newspaper. Two other bitter enemies of Wally Zerignue become secret informants for the reporter.

Le nouveau phénomène de l'humour vient de Berlin-Est... Et c'est un kangourou ! Un jour, Marc-Uwe Kling voit débarquer chez lui un kangourou sans gêne. Communiste et chômeur, le marsupial vide le réfrigérateur et refuse de payer un loyer. Surtout, il entraîne le narrateur - souvent contre son gré - dans des conversations à bâtons rompus brassant tous les sujets, du totalitarisme des marchands de soupe en sachet aux tatouages de Robbie Williams. Difficile à la lecture de savoir qui des deux protagonistes montre le plus de mauvais esprit.

It’s the year 2872 and the young, beautiful, and insane Keila Eisenstein is on the run from her long-time stalker, Bjorn Muller. Escaping him for the umpteenth time, Keila crashes down on the asteroid colony Eden, most famous for the long-running reality show The Bronze Age Fools.

Obscurity is a way of life for Gavin Vonn Getch, a painter who works at a frame shop in a small New England town. His life changes when billionaire Gary Eastman enters his shop and becomes the ultimate patron: a lifetime commission for all his work in exchange for a crap-load of money. Some of his artist buddies envy him and others think he's sold out. Curious as to where his paintings are being displayed, he makes a trip to the DLC headquarters, where a shocking discovery forces him to reevaluate his deal with Eastman and his identity as an artist.

Dr. Frederick Eichner, world-renowned dermatologist, is visited by the entrancingly irritating Felix Treevly who comes to him as a patient and stays as an obsession. Prosaic incidents blossom into bizarre developments with the sharpened reality of dreams as the spectral Mr. Treevly leads the doctor into a series of increasingly weird situations. With the assistance of a drunken private detective, a mad judge, a car crash, a game show called What’s My Disease, and a hashish party, Treevly drives Eichner to madness and mayhem.

Uma comunidade plural e anárquica encontra-se no Centro de Emagrecimento Ingatori para assistir à semifinal da Copa de 2014. Enquanto os frequentadores testemunham o fiasco histórico do 7 x 1, flashbacks narram suas trajetórias individuais: embora tenham personalidades muito distintas, o excesso de quilos parece unificar suas identidades; como se obesidade fosse um gigantesco rótulo padronizador. Os próprios sobrepesados brincam: um magro que habita um corpo gordo é um trans? E uma alma rica que nasceu num físico de pobre?

Darren Carver is vain, selfish, ambitious, corrupt, hedonistic, insincere, and a disgusting lowlife human. He is also your HR director. And your boss. He does not just hate you - he hates everyone. He does not embrace the corporate values. He would rather eat his own vomit than do that; in fact, he would rather eat your vomit. And the female HR director Catrina Carver is the same, if not worse.

Can true love conquer a zombie mutation? Prepare yourself for an undead zombie romance novel, one that is oozing with dark humor!

It’s the end of summer 2003. George W. Bush has recently declared the mission in Iraq accomplished, the unemployment rate is at its highest in years, and Martha Stewart has just been indicted for insider trading. Meanwhile, somewhere in the Midwest, Troy Augustus Loudermilk (fair-haired, statuesque, charismatic) and his companion Harry Rego (definitely none of those things) arrive at America’s most prestigious creative-writing program, to which Loudermilk has recently been accepted for his excellence in poetry. Loudermilk, however, has never written a poem in his life.

From an acclaimed and original writer comes a new collection of stories bursting with absurdist plot twists and laced with trenchant wit. The title story delivers a cringingly biting dissection of racial attitudes in contemporary America, and Clarke also turns his eagle eye to subjects like PTSD, the fate of child actors, and, most especially, marital discord in stories like "Considering Lizzie Borden, Her Axe, My Wife" and "The Misunderstandings".