What Am I Still Doing Here?

'Unremittingly glorious. I and the world demand more and we shall thump our tin mugs on the table demanding it until we are satisfied.' -- Stephen Fry There is only one writer alive today who is as mordantly funny as Kingsley Amis, as acute about human misery as Philip Larkin, and as brilliant in skewering pretension and vanity as both. His name is Roger Lewis... Nothing funnier or wise has been published all year. If you love someone buy them this book. If they don't appreciate the gift then purge them from your life. -- Michael Gove, Mail on Sunday 'Uproariously funny, tremendously clever and irresistibly lovable' -- Rupert Christiansen, Mail on Sunday 'Roger Lewis's new memoir takes us on an anarchic rollercoaster ride through what is probably the nearest thing to an autobiography he will ever write. Numerous hilarious routines jostle in the pages for attention. Lewis's strength is that behind all his acrobatics there is a richly stocked intellect at the controls. Stylistically he is ultramodern, a deracinated 'everyman; for the 21st century. -- Duncan Fallowell, Telegraph 'The funniest book of the year. What Am I Still Doing Here? by Roger Lewis is a wonderfully splenetic journal - part-diary, part-diatribe - by a man who rages with an indignant eloquence against the modern world. But Lewis' furious rants are never far from hilarity, and his anger is redeemed by flashes of pur poetry. Like all the best comics, Lewis is a disappointed optimist rather than an outright cynic, and it's this thwarted idealism which makes this such a liberating, life-affirming read.' -- Independent 'The jokes come thick and fast, the humour runs deep and dark. Among the belly laughs, Roger Lewis gifts us plenty of thought-provoking diamonds.' -- Graham Ball, Sunday Express He can be lethally catty and he also has an unfailingly sharp eye for absurdity. He is wonderfully funny, with a uniquely skewed take on the world.' -- John Preston, Spectator 'There's nobody else in the history of the world who is simultaneously as crude and dangerous or so gentle and poetic... Lewis, with his original and eloquent voice is nothing less than heroic.' -- Esquire 'Lewis is a marvellously wayward spirit, as well-versed in lavatory humour as in the classics, capable of taking in the gutter and the stars at a single glance.' 5* -- The Lady 'Enormously entertaining... It is generous, sincere and intelligent, and shows that Lewis is more than just the angry buffoon he paints himself as.' -- Evening Standard What Am I Still Doing Here? by Roger Lewis is one of those reads that is full of grumpy, thunderous, brilliantly funny observations -- Robert Bathurst, star of Downton Abbey, Daily Express

'Unremittingly glorious. I and the world demand more and we shall thump our tin mugs on the table demanding it until we are satisfied.' -- Stephen Fry There is only one writer alive today who is as mordantly funny as Kingsley Amis, as acute about human misery as Philip Larkin, and as brilliant in skewering pretension and vanity as both. His name is Roger Lewis... Nothing funnier or wise has been published all year. If you love someone buy them this book. If they don't appreciate the gift then purge them from your life. -- Michael Gove, Mail on Sunday 'Uproariously funny, tremendously clever and irresistibly lovable' -- Rupert Christiansen, Mail on Sunday 'Roger Lewis's new memoir takes us on an anarchic rollercoaster ride through what is probably the nearest thing to an autobiography he will ever write. Numerous hilarious routines jostle in the pages for attention. Lewis's strength is that behind all his acrobatics there is a richly stocked intellect at the controls. Stylistically he is ultramodern, a deracinated 'everyman; for the 21st century. -- Duncan Fallowell, Telegraph 'The funniest book of the year. What Am I Still Doing Here? by Roger Lewis is a wonderfully splenetic journal - part-diary, part-diatribe - by a man who rages with an indignant eloquence against the modern world. But Lewis' furious rants are never far from hilarity, and his anger is redeemed by flashes of pur poetry. Like all the best comics, Lewis is a disappointed optimist rather than an outright cynic, and it's this thwarted idealism which makes this such a liberating, life-affirming read.' -- Independent 'The jokes come thick and fast, the humour runs deep and dark. Among the belly laughs, Roger Lewis gifts us plenty of thought-provoking diamonds.' -- Graham Ball, Sunday Express He can be lethally catty and he also has an unfailingly sharp eye for absurdity. He is wonderfully funny, with a uniquely skewed take on the world.' -- John Preston, Spectator 'There's nobody else in the history of the world who is simultaneously as crude and dangerous or so gentle and poetic... Lewis, with his original and eloquent voice is nothing less than heroic.' -- Esquire 'Lewis is a marvellously wayward spirit, as well-versed in lavatory humour as in the classics, capable of taking in the gutter and the stars at a single glance.' 5* -- The Lady 'Enormously entertaining... It is generous, sincere and intelligent, and shows that Lewis is more than just the angry buffoon he paints himself as.' -- Evening Standard Praise for Seasonal Suicide Notes: -- by Roger Lewis 'This is comedy of a rare quality. Lewis is a seriously funny man.' -- Sunday Express 'Seasonal Suicide Notes is the most brilliantly funny and genuinely thought-provoking book of the year.' -- Sunday Times 'Roger Lewis is a genius writer, and he knows it.' -- Lynn Barber 'He makes me cry with laughter - I really cried, blubbering and sniffling and gasping. Roger Lewis is a magnificently bilious comic genius.' -- Francis Wheen 'This is one of the funniest books you will ever reah. And the most reckless. If you like black comedy you'll find yourself in Narnia.' -- Spectator If they ever award gold medals for comic genius Roger Lewis will be a shoo-in for gold. -- Mail on Sunday 'The perfect Christmas present is already on the shelves. It is the funniest, truest, most engaging thing I've read all year.' -- Times 'These sulphurous round-robins are not just cry-makingly funny; there are also arresting insights into literature and life, with flashes of beautiful seriousness.' -- Daily Telegraph