Comic novel

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A comic novel is a work of fiction in which the writer seeks to amuse the reader, sometimes with subtlety and as part of a carefully woven narrative; sometimes, above all other considerations.

One of the most notable British comic novelists is P.G. Wodehouse, whose work follows on from that of Jerome K. Jerome and George & Weedon Grossmith's Diary of a Nobody. Nor can Saki's work be ignored, although his career was cut short by World War I. A.G. Macdonell and G.K. Chesterton also produced flights of whimsy that delighted their reading audiences in their day. Other, more contemporary UK authors of this ilk include Tom Sharpe, Kingsley Amis, Terry Pratchett, Richard Gordon, Molier, Ian Ross, Douglas Adams, Robin Hawdon, Evelyn Waugh, Eric Sykes, Leslie Thomas, Stephen Fry, Mike Harding and Ben Elton.

Notable American comic novelists include Hunter S. Thompson, John Kennedy Toole, Robert Clark Young, Robert Plunket, James Wilcox, Carl Hiaasen, Joseph Heller, Peter De Vries, and Terry Southern.