When lowly civil servant Ben Anscomb's luck deserts him, he opts for a walk on the lawless side of life. Jobless and wifeless, he draws up his very own Theft Chart and sets about earning his living through a series of systematically planned felonies. Confident in his ability to avoid the cock-ups of the commonplace crook, he proves to be a singular thief. From the author of 'Barry Braithwaite's Last Life' and 'Spanish Journals - The Posthumous Diary of an Expat', an amusing and instructive tale of criminal capers in which the question, 'Does crime pay?' is finally and all but conclusively...

UPCOTE, a self-styled gentleman of leisure who subsidises his state hand-outs with a little wheeling and dealing on the side meets the struggling SMYTHE and sets out to help his young protege of fifty-three fulfil his true and hitherto well-concealed potential. With the help of Upcote's indomitable Aunt Mabel and under the sceptical scrutiny of coin-obsessed cafe owner Bob, the two men set out to put their sartorial and cultural superiority on a sound financial footing. Dodging the slings and arrows of outraged punters our two heroes push, swerve and stumble onwards towards their dream of...