Seven Darkly Comic Novels
April is a month often associated with humour, so we decided to round up some of the books that have made us laugh most over the years. It was a hugely difficult list to narrow down, and often comedy and tragedy are two sides of the same coin, but we can guarantee that these are some of the sharpest and funniest books you’re likely to come across. Most of them use humour to explore the deeper questions of love, friendship, grief and family, but all of them are worth exploring.
Nancy Mitford - The Pursuit of Love, 1945
The first in a trilogy about an upper-class English family in the interwar period, Nancy Mitford’s novel became an immediate bestseller following its publication soon after the end of World War Two. A comedy of class, romance and more, the book follows the fortunes of Linda Radlett, as narrated by her cousin, Fanny Logan. A story that balances tragic overtones and hilarious moments, it captures a time gone by with aplomb.
Mario Vargas Llosa - Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter, 1977
Set in Peru during the 1950s, Vargas Llosa’s brilliant book is the story of 18 year old Mario, who falls for a 32 year old divorcee while working at a radio station that broadcasts short soap operas daily. The novel alternates between these hilariously camp soap operas, written by Mario’s eccentric colleague Pedro Camacho, and the increasing dramas surrounding the titular affair.
John Kennedy Toole - A Confederacy of Dunces, 1980
A posthumous classic that won the Pulitzer and gained a cult following, this novel follows the misadventures of Ignatius Reilly, a lazy, overweight, misanthropic, self-styled scholar who lives at home with his mother. He is an educated but slothful 30-year-old man living in early-1960s New Orleans who, in his quest for employment, has various adventures with colorful French Quarter characters.
Geoff Dyer - Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi, 2005
The story of a journalist in Venice to cover the opening of the Art Biennale, Dyer’s novel follows the misadventures of Jeff and his search for spirituality after he meets the spellbinding Laura, who will completely transform his time in Italy and beyond. It’s a playful, stylish, sensual book that won the Wodehouse Prize and explores love and spirituality with deceptively light candour..
Paul Beatty - The Sellout, 2015
An iconic race satire that won the Booker Prize, The Sellout is a brilliant and biting book that pits its protagonist in a Supreme Court case ‘against the United States of America’. But what’s more shocking is that the African American protagonist is part of the trial of the century because he attempts to reinstate segregation and slavery in his suburban hometown. A work of comic genius that is also a brilliant commentary on race and inequality in America, it’s already a modern classic.
Wang Xiaobo - Golden Age, 2017
A hugely popular Chinese tale of the Cultural Revolution that has recently been translated and widely celebrated, Golden Age is the story of Wang's life under the Communist regime: his times in a mountain commune, his misadventures as a biology lecturer in a Beijing university, and his entanglements with family, friends and lovers. It’s an explosive, subversive, wild satire that is worth checking out.
Jen Beagin - Big Swiss, 2023
One of the funniest and bawdiest books of the past couple of years, Big Swiss is a brilliantly original and funny novel about a transcriptionist who falls in love with a client while listening to her therapy sessions. When they accidentally meet in real life, an explosive affair ensues and the book traverses the lines between dark humour, obsession and identity in intriguing ways.
Check out some of these authors and discover other hilarious classics by exploring the Hammock Literary Map.