An exuberant, life-affirming novel of taking your chances. After a spur-of-the-moment day out with his boss' daughter in celebration of his 21st birthday, Polycarp Jarvis decides to quit his Bristol-based junior government worker job. Newly emboldened, he embarks on an erratic, engaging and not always strictly legal course through life. Going from bus driver for the Red Dragon Motor Company to co-owner of a flying company, to seller of quack medicines, and eventually to media tycoon, Polycarp makes much of his luck along the way. Through ups and downs, his exuberance and charm carry him...

How far could you go living in another's shoes? In a mid-life moment, Paul Morison travels from America to England to discover his mother's roots. A chance encounter and uncanny resemblance leads him to agree to assume the identity of a famous singer for a while. But it's not just the unnerving attentions of the adoring public that he must deal with. Seeking to regain his freedom, Paul flees the length of Britain from Southampton to the Scottish Isles. On the run, he discovers he has let himself in for much more than he bargained. This gentle comic caper and love story was hugely...