Full disclosure first. I have read all the Jeeves books, I have seen all of the Jeeves and Wooster shows, and I have read most of P.G. Wodehouse’s books, many more than once. I am a full-fledged fan and always will be.
The Inimitable Jeeves was the first of the Jeeves novels, but most of the 11 stories in the book had been published separately before from 1918 to 1923. The characters he introduces come back in one form or another in other books – Aunt Agatha, Bingo Little, Honoria Glossop, Roderick Glossop, Claude and Eustace, Bertie himself, and of course Jeeves. Each of the 11 stories are stand-alone humorous tales of the idle rich, immature bachelors, young love, potential betrothals, friendships, and family ties. As usual, Bertie finds himself in a sticky spot, and Jeeves finds a quiet way to rescue him.
These were early tales of P.G. Wodehouse and he continued to write about Jeeves and Wooster and other of his well-established characters from 1902 to 1977. He wrote 71 novels, 21 collections, 42 plays, 15 scripts, and 3 autobiographies. He was one of the most popular humorists of the 20th century.
[I]t is now abundantly clear that Wodehouse is one of the funniest and most productive men who ever wrote in English. He is far from being a mere jokesmith: he is an authentic craftsman, a wit and humorist of the first water, the inventor of a prose style which is a kind of comic poetry. (Voorhees, biography of P.G. Wodehouse)
As a dedicated fan, I give all of P.G. Wodehouse’s books a favorable rating and all of them at least 4 stars. This early work is recommended, with a 4.5 out of 5.0 stars rating.
If you choose to listen to an audiobook of the Jeeves stories, pick any one read by Jonathan Cecil ([usr 5].
Here is a a full audiobook, read by Jonathan Cecil:
