The Itinerant Lodger (Paperback or Softback)

One wintry afternoon a lodger named Wilson arrives at 38, Trebisall Avenue, filled with hope. As he crosses the threshold of Mrs Pollard's house, with its "aura of impending stew" he becomes a new man. This is a tactic he has tried before, just as he has tried many jobs before, from cook to seismographer's assistant. But alas, each time he was sacked because it was not his vocation. And so he has moved on, from town to town, from landlady to landlady: from Mrs McManus of Barnstaple, to Mrs McManus of Newport (I.O.W). Now, under the motherly eye of Mrs Pollard, he attempts a number of new vocations including those of poet and postman. Strange things befall him in the process: he is even tried and convicted for scandalous offences of which he has no recollection. But his progress continues, out through the end of this book, in search of a panacea for all mankind.

David Nobbs was a well-known English comedian. His first break came on the iconic satire show That Was The Week, That Was. Later he wrote for The Frost Report and The Two Ronnies and provided material for top comedians including Ken Dodd, Tommy Cooper and Dick Emery. Apart from his nineteen novels, David is best known for two hit TV series A Bit of a Do and The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin. His radio series With Nobbs On aired on Radio 4 in 2012.