Pelham Grenville Wodehouse (always known as 'Plum') wrote about seventy
novels and some three hundred short stories over seventy-three years. He
is widely recognised as the greatest 20th-century writer of humour in
the English language. Perhaps best known for the escapades of Bertie
Wooster and Jeeves, Wodehouse also created the world of Blandings
Castle, home to Lord Emsworth and his cherished pig, the Empress of
Blandings. His stories include gems concerning the irrepressible and
disreputable Ukridge; Psmith, the elegant socialist; the
ever-so-slightly-unscrupulous Fifth Earl of Ickenham, better known as
Uncle Fred; and those related by Mr Mulliner, the charming raconteur of
The Angler's Rest, and the Oldest Member at the Golf Club. In 1936 he
was awarded the Mark Twain Prize for 'having made an outstanding and
lasting contribution to the happiness of the world'. He was made a
Doctor of Letters by Oxford University in 1939 and in 1975, aged
ninety-three, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. He died shortly
afterwards, on St Valentine's Day.