Jonathan Ames – författare

'Happy Doll is shaping up to be the perfect hardboiled 21st-century hero' Guardian

A NAME FROM THE PAST

When Mary DeAngelo walks into Happy Doll's office, she brings with her the scent of sandalwood perfume, a whole lot of cash, and the name of his old flame: Ines Candle.

LURES HAPPY INTO A TRAP

Ines is living rough up in Washington State, and Mary wants her found. Happy hits the streets to track her down, but soon he realizes he has been used. Now somebody is hunting them.

CAN HE FIGHT HIS WAY OUT?

Soon two people are dead, and Happy is in big trouble. But he's been here before and he knows that the only way to be safe is to get even...

A brilliant contemporary reimagining of the greatest comic relationship of all time, which goes far beyond pastiche to places even Wodehouse couldn't.

Alan Blair, the hero of Wake Up, Sir!, is a young, loony writer with numerous problems of the mental, emotional, sexual, spiritual, and physical variety. He's very good at problems. But luckily for Alan, he has a personal valet named Jeeves, who does his best to sort things out for his troubled master. And Alan does find trouble wherever he goes. He embarks on a perilous and bizarre road journey, his destination being an artists colony in Saratoga Springs. There Alan encounters a gorgeous femme fatale who is in possession of the most spectacular nose in the history of noses. Such a nose can only lead to a wild disaster for someone like Alan, and Jeeves tries to help him, but... Well, read the book and find out!

'Too funny for the canon of high literature, the book is too brilliant to be mere diversionary humour' New York Press

Jonathan Ames's latest comic novel is so brilliant and charming that any description of it is bound to be impossibly dull by comparison

'A Wodehouse novel for the recovery era' The New York Times Book Review

'What do you get when you cross Carry On, Jeeves with Portnoy's Complaint? . . . Jonathan Ames's very funny new novel, Wake Up, Sir!' Newsday

'Ames is a remarkable comic writer. He excels at punching out hilarious monologues on subjects ranging from nose fetishes to the planks of Buddhism' Time Out New York

Cause for celebration... As Jeeves himself might prompt Ames, 'Carry on, sir!'' Washington Post

Pungent and hilarious, if completely off the deep end' Kirkus Reviews

Jonathan Ames is the author of the novels Wake Up, Sir!, The Extra Man, and I Pass Like Night; a graphic novel, The Alcoholic, and the essay collections I Love You More Than You Know, My Less Than Secret Life, and What's Not to Love? He is the winner of a Guggenheim Fellowship and is a former columnist for New York Press. Ames performs frequently as a storyteller and has been a recurring guest on David Letterman. He has fought in two amateur boxing matches as "The Herring Wonder," and he has peformed in a number of shows. Ames had the lead role in the IFC film The Girl Under the Waves, was a porn-extra in the porn film C-Men, and played himself in a pilot episode for the Showtime network. At the time, he said, "It's the role I've been waiting for!" He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

'A stiff shot of timeless Hollywood noir' Chris Brookmyre

MEET HAPPY DOLL

Hap to his friends. He's an LA private detective living a quiet life along with his beloved half-Chihuahua half-Terrier, George.

HE'S GETTING BY JUST FINE

When he's not walking George or sipping tequila, Hap works nights at the Thai Miracle Spa, protecting the women who work there from clients who won't take "no" for an answer.

UNTIL HE KILLS A MAN

Usually Doll avoids trouble by following his two basic rules: bark loudly and act first. But after a deadly fight with a customer, even he finds himself wildly out of his depth...

The newest third darkly humorous thriller in the Happy Doll series, from the author of You Were Never Really Here

HE'S ON THE RUN

Happy Doll crosses the Mexican border with a bullet in his shoulder and a cartel out for his blood.

HE'S DONE WITH VIOLENCE

Soon he has a new identity and a peaceful new life on a secluded beach. Maybe he can finally leave his brutal past behind.

BUT VIOLENCE ISN'T DONE WITH HIM

When murder shatters the tranquillity of his sleepy paradise, Happy realizes he has nowhere left to run. The question is, can he remember how to fight?

PRAISE FOR THE HAPPY DOLL SERIES

'I loved this book - it's quirky, edgy, charming, funny and serious, all in one. Very highly recommended' - Lee Child, author of the Jack Reacher series

'A stiff shot of timeless Hollywood noir, spiked with black humour and leaving a warm glow as it goes down' - Chris Brookmyre, author of Quite Ugly One Morning

'So fun and propulsive I didn't just read it in one sitting, I read it in what felt like a single breath' Lou Berney, author of the New York Times-bestselling November Road