Losing It has been shortlisted for the PG Woodhouse Comedy Literary Prize as well as The Edinburgh First Book Award 2015.Millie was at one time quite well known for various TV and radio appearances. However, she now has no money, a best friend with a better sex life than her, a daughter in Papua New Guinea and too much weight in places she really doesn't want it.When she's asked to be the front woman for a new diet pill, she naively...

This anthology showcases the very best in humorous short story writing, by outstanding contemporary women writers, including Kathy Lette, Sadia Azmat, Lucy Vine, Josie Long, Paula Lennon, and many more.It includes the winning and shortlisted stories from the Comedy Women in Print Short Story Prize.From tales of a narcoleptic biscuit lover, con artists with a twist, and the accidental death of a hamster; to consequences of accidental gluing, the imagined world of extreme sho...

Bella le Pard’s career as a TV presenter is ‘on hold’. To fill her days, she sits in a coffee shop and obsesses about a wedding dress in the neighbouring shop. Her luck changes when she gets the call from her old boss at ‘Flair for living TV’ to present a pilot for a new food and chat show. But her revived TV career is short-lived when one of the celebrity guests threatens to steal the show. Bella finds herself turning to blackmail to save her job. But will her threat to reveal her boss’s ...

A comedy of ambition, dreams, blackmail and daytime TV…Bella’s career as a TV presenter is ‘on hold’. To fill her days, she sits in a coffee shop and obsesses about a wedding dress in the neighbouring shop. Her luck changes when she gets the call from her old boss to present a pilot for a new food and chat show. But her revived TV career is short-lived when one of the celebrity guests threatens to steal the show…

Updated with new chapters for 2025!‘Helen Lederer is the third funniest woman in the world’ – Dawn FrenchWhat was it like as one of a handful of women at the heart of the right-on alternative comedy scene in the 1980s? Piece of cake? Bit of a laugh? Well, yes, and no. It had its ups – but also its downs. Helen Lederer was a regular on the stand-up circuit and new-wave sketch shows in the decade that launched the careers of today’s comedy household names and national treasur...

Millie was at one time quite well known for various TV and radio appearances. However, she now has no money, a best friend with a better sex life than her, a daughter in Papua New Guinea and too much weight in places she really doesn't want it.When she's asked to be the front woman for a new diet pill, she naively believes that all her troubles will be solved. She will have money, the weight will be gone, and maybe she'll get more sex.If only life was really that easy. It d...

It's back to school for the start of a new term. Indigo's returning after a bout of glandular fever and is dreading it. Rose is worrying about Indigo--and her new glasses. Saffy is busy dictating Rose's homework answers, while Caddy agonizes over ways to dump her current boyfriend. And their mother, Eve, is busy trying to dry her latest painting with a hairdryer.Some things never change. But this term Tom has joined Indigo's class. And that will make all the difference . . .

All 36 episodes of the maverick literary quizPoet Ian McMillan is our host in this gleeful game of literary tomfoolery, outrageous parody and biting wit. Joining him for some lighthearted competitive wordplay are a quartet of writers and comedians, all ready and eager to run riot through the halls of great literature.Their bookish challenges include 'New Beginnings and Endings', which sees them topping and tailing well-known literary works to produce some v...

Nick Hancock finds out what people, places and pop songs his celebrity guests would consign to oblivionRoom 101 is the anti-Desert Island Discs. Instead of picking the tracks, books and luxuries they love, guests are invited to banish their least favourite things to Orwell's eponymous chamber of horrors. Twenty-seven episodes of the show were broadcast on Radio 5 between 1992 and 1994, and it went on to run for 18 hit series on BBC TV before relau...

When life with Jayni's violent-tempered father becomes too frightening to cope with, Jayni, her mum and her little brother Kenny are forced to escape in the middle of the night. Slipping out of the house unseen, travelling up to London by train and checking into a hotel – it's almost like playing an elaborate game. They even make up false identities to protect their secret, and Jayni becomes the glamorous-sounding Lola Rose. But when money runs out and reality bites, what will they do next...

Is anything bothering you? Problems in class or at home? Don't know where to turn for help? Log on to the Worry Website! Type in your worry and wait for the good advice to flow in. At least that's the plan when Mr Speed sets up his super-cool new Worry Website for the class. Holly, Greg, Natasha and the rest feel that they've got shed loads of worries but, as they find out, sometimes the best advice comes from the most unexpected place.

Em adores her funny, glamorous dad – who cares if he's not her real father? He's wonderful to her, and to her little brother Maxie and sister Vita. True to form at Christmas, Dad gives them fantastic presents, including a real emerald ring for his little Princess Em. Unfortunately he's got another surprise in store – he's leaving them. Will Dad's well-meaning but chaotic attempts to keep seeing Em and the other children help the family come to terms with this new crisis? Or would they be b...