Comedy
A comic novel is a work of fiction in which the writer seeks to amuse the reader, sometimes with subtlety and as part of a carefully woven narrative; sometimes, above all other considerations.
The Wheels of Chance [en] (1896)
Herbert George Wells
Although H. G. Wells is best known for his science fiction stories he wrote in many genres including history, and social commentaries. The Wheels of Chance was written when the bicycle was beginning to become very popular (1890 -1905) and saw bicycles becoming a part of social changes in...
Genre: Comedy
Bouvard and Pécuchet [en] (1881) 
Gustave Flaubert
Nowhere do Flaubert's explorations of the relation of signs to the objects they signify reach a more thorough study than in this work. Bouvard and Pécuchet systematically confuse signs and symbols with reality, an assumption that causes them much suffering, as it does for Emma Bovary and...
Three Men on the Bummel [en] (1900)
Jerome Klapka Jerome
A "bummel" is a journey without end. Whether we want to or not, most of us have to settle with a return to our regular exertions. So do these heroes of Three Men in a Boat, only on this occasion, a cycling trip through the Black Forest, it seems they may cycle on forever, such are their...
Genre: Comedy
Three Men in a Boat [en] (1889) 
Jerome Klapka Jerome
The erratic progress of J. Harris, George and Montmorency the dog won immediate approval of Londoners, while readers all over the world saw THREE MEN IN A BOAT as a key to the British character. The project, which began as an attempt to promote pleasure boating, became one of the greatest comedy...
Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow [en] (1886)
Jerome Klapka Jerome
Published in 1886 and dedicated to the writer’s ally in idling—his pipe—this collection of entertaining essays established Jerome K. Jerome as an eminent English wit. "What readers ask nowadays in a book is that it should improve, instruct, and elevate. This book wouldn’t elevate a cow. I cannot...
The Europeans [en] (1878)
Henry James
Eugenia, a baroness divorced from a German prince, and her bohemian brother, Felix, are coming back to America. Raised and cultured in Europe, they are returning destitute to New England to seek out their rich and innocent cousins. Eugenia wins the attentions of Robert Acton, the most...
Genre: Comedy
The Importance of Being Earnest [en] (1895)
Oscar Wilde
The Importance of Being Earnest is a comedy of manners set in Victorian England. Algernon lives in London and says he has a sick friend in the country. He uses visits to his imaginary friend to get out of things. His best friend, Ernest, is also Jack and is doing the exact same thing....
The Hand of Ethelberta [en] (1876)
Thomas Hardy
The only novel from Hardy that that provides a lighter tale, The Hand of Ethelberta, gives account of the life of a woman who lifts herself to the higher classes of the society.
Lady Susan [en] (1871)
Jane Austen
The victim of a vicious scandal, the impoverished Lady Susan is obliged to take up residence with her brother-in-law and his family. Refusing to resign herself to the role of placid house guest, she conspires to baffle her hosts, seducing her sister-in-law's brother in the process by means of...
The Pickwick Papers [en] (1837)
Charles Dickens
The Pickwick Papers explores the perils, travels, and adventures of the Pickwick Club's members: the founding chairman, former businessman and amateur scientist Mr. Pickwick; his trusted companion Sam Weller; the sportsman Winkle; the poet Snodgrass; and the lover Tracy Tupman.
Genres: Comedy, Satire, Social Criticism
Psmith in the City [en] (1910)
Pelham Grenville Wodehouse
Psmith in the City was originally released as a serial in The Captain magazine, between October 1908 and March 1909, under the title The New Fold. It continues the adventures of cricket-loving Mike Jackson and his immaculately-dressed friend Psmith, first encountered in Mike. Mike Jackson,...
Genre: Comedy
Right Ho, Jeeves [en] (1922)
Pelham Grenville Wodehouse
When Jeeves suggests dreamy, soulful Gussie Fink-Nottle don scarlet tights and false beard to win over soppy Madeline Bassett, Bertie Wooster doubts this is the way to get his friend hitched. Meanwhile, Bertie's eccentric Aunt Dahlia asks him to hand out prizes at the Market Snodsbury Grammar...
Something New [en] (1915)
Pelham Grenville Wodehouse
Young neighbours and fellow-writers Ashe Marson and Joan Valentine, newly met and both in need of a change of direction, find themselves drawn down to Blandings, for various reasons attempting to retrieve a scarab belonging to an American millionaire, absent-mindedly purloined by Lord Emsworth....
Genre: Comedy
Psmith, Journalist [en] (1915)
Pelham Grenville Wodehouse
Continuing the adventures of the silver-tongued Psmith, one of Wodehouse's best loved characters, and his friend Mike Jackson. The story begins with Psmith accompanying his fellow Cambridge student Mike to New York on a cricketing tour. Through high spirits and force of personality, Psmith takes...
Genre: Comedy
Mike [en] (1909)
Pelham Grenville Wodehouse
Michael "Mike" Jackson is the youngest son of a renowned cricketing family. Mike's eldest brother Joe is a successful first-class player, while another brother, Bob, is on the verge of his school team. When Mike arrives at Wrykyn himself, his cricketing talent and love of adventure bring him...
Genre: Comedy
My Man Jeeves [en] (1919)
Pelham Grenville Wodehouse
My Man Jeeves, first published in 1919, introduced the world to affable, indolent Bertie Wooster and his precise, capable valet, Jeeves. Some of the finest examples of humorous writing found in English literature are woven around the relationship between these two men of very different classes...
Genre: Comedy
The Man With Two Left Feet [en] (1917)
Pelham Grenville Wodehouse
A miscellaneous collection mostly of stories concerning relationships, sports and household pets. It does not feature any of Wodehouse's regular characters; one however, "Extricating Young Gussie", is remarkable as the first appearance of some of Wodehouse's most well-known and beloved...
Genres: Comedy, Short Stories
The History of Mr. Polly [en] (1910)
Herbert George Wells
Mr Polly is an ordinary middle-aged man who is tired of his wife’s nagging and his dreary job as the owner of a regional gentleman’s outfitters. Faced with the threat of bankruptcy, he concludes that the only way to escape his frustrating existence is by burning his shop to the ground, and...
Genre: Comedy
Little Women [en] (1868)
Louisa May Alcott
Little Women is an American classic, adored for Louisa May Alcott's lively and vivid portraits of the endearing March sisters: talented tomboy Jo, pretty Meg, shy Beth, temperamental Amy. Millions have shared in their joys, hardships, and adventures as they grow up in Civil War New England,...
Genres: Comedy, Coming of Age, Family Life, Young Readers