The Satsuma Complex

"He approaches the world with a wicked, mischievous smile. I guess this is what happens when you turn a brilliant, oblique comedic attention to life. He can really write. Obviously we know he knows how to tell a joke, but he also knows the difference between delivering comedy orally and writing something which will still hook and deliver. He can absolutely do it, and you find yourself complicit with him in the way the story turns into comedy. It’s a joy actually, because then you go out into the world with a bit more warmth in your soul. And you think the world is hilarious, that we are all completely ludicrous. Yes, there are very good jokes in it. But it’s also just a humorous way of approaching the world that feels like a beautiful infusion of sanity. It’s easy to be anxious, concerned, traumatised, disrupted… the world is really difficult. But a bit of Mortimer makes it bearable and amusing, and he reminds you of the joy of talking and telling stories. It’s quite difficult not to hear it in his voice. But it’s like having a new pair of orange-tinted glasses, which makes everything quite strange and glowy—and you realise that the world can look totally different, if you look at it with a squint and from the side. It can be enchanting and funny. So he makes you laugh, they all do. They all give delight, which is comedy’s greatest gift, and remind us that with good nature and generosity and by embracing human vulnerability and fallibility, you don’t have to see everything in that tragic, melodramatic way the news tells us—but that there is a way to read the world that will be good for you, good for your soul. I would say one more thing. These books are all brilliantly edited, which isn’t always the case, and beautifully published. And I love that there were so many others who, in another year, might have made the shortlist. Maybe comedy is the answer—No, that’s too cheap. Maybe comedy is an answer to some of the world’s greatest puzzles. The winner of the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction 2023 will be announced on Monday 20th November at The Goring Hotel in London."