"A hilarious novel that's as absurd as it is relatable"
Winner of the 2023 Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction, The Satsuma Complex is a pitch-perfect showcase of Bob Mortimer’s unique brand of comedy; it's surreal, whimsical, and delightfully absurd. He masterfully blends the bizarre with the banal, crafting a story that feels warmly familiar. Steeped in the great tradition of British eccentricity, Mortimer’s humour thrives on unpredictability, skewering everyday situations with wild logic and unexpected twists.
At the heart of the novel is Gary, a mild-mannered legal assistant living a largely unremarkable life in London - until he finds himself unexpectedly drawn into a murky underworld after his acquaintance Brendan mysteriously vanishes. Left with a seemingly innocuous computer drive that turns out to be highly sought after, Gary is soon caught in a spiralling mystery that’s as strange as it is compelling. Along the way, he encounters a captivating woman he dubs "Satsuma," after spotting her reading the eponymous book. Their connection provides a soft thread of romance that grounds the story amid its chaos, giving the reader someone to root for amid the madness.
Mortimer’s signature deadpan delivery and disarmingly warm tone lend the novel a gentle charm. Despite its oddball plot and eccentric characters, The Satsuma Complex never feels alienating. Instead, it feels like a gentle invitation into a weirder, sillier version of our world - one that somehow still rings true.
| Primary Genre | Modern and Contemporary Fiction |
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My name is Gary. I'm a thirty-year-old legal assistant with a firm of solicitors in London. To describe me as anonymous would be unfair but to notice me other than in passing would be a rarity. I did make a good connection with a girl, but that blew up in my face and smacked my arse with a fish slice.
Gary Thorn goes for a pint with a work acquaintance called Brendan. When Brendan leaves early, Gary meets a girl in the pub. He doesn't catch her name, but falls for her anyway. When she suddenly disappears without saying goodbye, all Gary has to remember her by is the book she was reading: The Satsuma Complex.
But when Brendan goes missing, Gary needs to track down the girl he now calls Satsuma to get some answers. And so begins Gary's quest, through the estates and pie shops of South London, to finally bring some love and excitement into his unremarkable life.
A page-turning story with a cast of unforgettable characters, The Satsuma Complex is the brilliantly funny first novel by bestselling author and comedian Bob Mortimer.
The Satsuma Complex features in the following genres: Crime and Mystery, General Fiction, Humorous Fiction, Modern and Contemporary Fiction, Fiction
The Satsuma Complex is available in Paperback, Hardback
The Satsuma Complex was written by Bob Mortimer and published by Simon & Schuster Ltd
The Satsuma Complex has 298 pages
£8.99
