Keyes and Osman shortlisted for Bollinger Everyman as Florence chairs judges

Marian Keyes, Richard Osman and Zakiya Dalila Harris are among authors to be shortlisted for the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction Award, with this year’s judging panel chaired by former Hay Festival director Peter Florence.

The award is the UK’s longest running prize for comic fiction, and recognises the funniest novels publishers over the past year, which best evokes the spirit of P G Wodehouse’s writing. The shortlist was chosen from 63 submissions published between 1st June 2021 and 31st May 2022.

Twelve books have made the shortlist this year, including Keyes’ Again, Rachel (Michael Joseph), The Man Who Died Twice by Osman (Viking) and The Other Black Girl by Harris, which Bloomsbury picked up in a six-figure deal.

The judges for this year’s prize are Florence, publisher David Campbell, comedian Sindhu Vee, broadcaster and author James Naughtie, and Justin Albert, vice-president of the Hay Festival and director of National Trust Wales.

“What a feast of wonderfully entertaining writing and a delightful spectrum of comedy, wit, satire and knockabout farce," Florence said. "There are great books here, and authors who mine the darker seams of life with humour and humanity."

Director of Champagne Bollinger, Victoria Carfantan, added: “This year looks to be a bumper harvest in both the world of champagne and comic fiction. With twelve strong contenders in the shortlist, we have every reason to transport ourselves with some light-hearted reading to make us all smile once again.”

The winner will be announced at a reception on 22nd November at the Bollinger Burlington Bar in London. The winner will be awarded with a jeroboam  of Bollinger Special Cuvée, a case of Bollinger La Grande Année, the complete set of the Everyman’s Library P G Wodehouse collection and a pig named after their winning book.

Previous winners have included novelists Alexander McCall Smith, Helen Fielding, Howard Jacobson and Marina Lewycka.

The shortlist in full

Are We Having Fun Yet? by Lucy Mangan (Souvenir Press)
Harrow by Joy Williams (Tuskar Rock)
Impossible by Sarah Lotz (HarperCollins)
Last Resort by Andrew Lipstein (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)
One Day I Shall Astonish The World by Nina Stibbe (Viking)
Our Country Friends by Gary Shteyngart (Allen & Unwin)
The Echo Chamber by John Boyne (Doubleday)
The Lock In by Phoebe Luckhurst (Michael Joseph)
The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris (Bloomsbury)
The Trees by Percival Everett (Influx Press)
The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman (Viking)
Again, Rachel by Marian Keyes (Michael Joseph)