Celebrating its Silver Jubilee, the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction has announced its shortlist for 2025.

The UK's longest running prize for comic fiction looks to highlight the funniest novels of the past 12 months. This year saw a record number of submissions with the judges having the difficult job of whittling down 107 titles to a chuckle-filled shortlist of 8. This year's shortlist includes four debut authors with five women and three men making up the list of contenders for this year's prize. 

The distinguished judges for this year’s prize are: Peter Florence, director of The Conversation at St Martin in the Fields; comedian Pippa Evans; novelist and critic Stephanie Merritt; broadcaster and author James Naughtie; Justin Albert, Vice Chair, University of Wales and Chair, Rewilding Britain; and David Campbell, Everyman’s Library publisher.

This year's winner will join a list of bestselling novellists and fabulous comedic writers including Terry Pratchett, Helen Fielding, and Bob Mortimer. Last year, Ferdia Lennon won for his brilliantly funny debut Glorious Exploits.

As 2025 is the 25th year of the prize, they will also be selecting a 'winner of winners'. A separate panel of judges consisting of five well-known personalities from the worlds of comedy, entertainment and literature will be choosing the book that made them chuckle harder than all the others for the Vintage Bollinger Prize. To celebrate the prize’s 25th Anniversary and the Vintage Bollinger Prize, we have an exciting opportunity for one lucky reader to win all 24 past winning books and a bottle of Bollinger Special Cuvee. Click here to find out how to enter. 

Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction 2025 Shortlist

A Little Trickerie by Rosanna Pike

Friends of Dorothy by Sandi Toskvig

Fundamentally by Nussaibah Younis

Last Acts by Alexander Sammartino

Murder Most Foul by Guy Jenkin

The Book of George by Kate Greathead

The Persians by Sanam Mahloudji

The Unfinished Harauld Hughes by Richard Ayoade

About The Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction 2025 

This year's shortlist was chosen from a record 107 submissions consisting on books published between the 1st June 2024 and the 31st May 2025. 

The winner of this year's awards will be announced at a reception on the 1st December in London, where the winner will be awarded with a jeroboam and a case of Bollinger Special Cuvée, the complete set of the Everyman’s Library P.G. Wodehouse collection and a pig named after their winning book.

Because 2025 marks the book awards' Silver Jubilee, there will also be a special Winner of Winners prize. Named The Vintage Bollinger Award, this will choose from the previous recipients of the prestigious prize.

More details about the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction can be found on the website here.

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