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Jeeves #11-13
The Jeeves Omnibus Vol. 4: Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit / Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves / Jeeves in the Offing
Bertie may be in danger of having his spine severed in five places by that jealous gorilla G. D'Arcy (Stilton) Cheesewright, but, as Jeeves insists, the priorities still have to be observed. And so, thanks to Jeeves, they are throughout this bumper volume, whatever mayhem may be loosed upon the befuddled head and generous heart of Bertram Wilberforce Wooster.
Gathered in this volume are three of Wodehouse's hilarious Jeeves and Wooster novels: Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit, Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves and Jeeves in the Offing.
Gathered in this volume are three of Wodehouse's hilarious Jeeves and Wooster novels: Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit, Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves and Jeeves in the Offing.
459 pages, Paperback
First published July 2, 1992
86 people are currently reading
335 people want to read
About the author
P.G. Wodehouse
1,680 books6,925 followersSir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, KBE, was a comic writer who enjoyed enormous popular success during a career of more than seventy years and continues to be widely read over 40 years after his death. Despite the political and social upheavals that occurred during his life, much of which was spent in France and the United States, Wodehouse's main canvas remained that of prewar English upper-class society, reflecting his birth, education, and youthful writing career.
An acknowledged master of English prose, Wodehouse has been admired both by contemporaries such as Hilaire Belloc, Evelyn Waugh and Rudyard Kipling and by more recent writers such as Douglas Adams, Salman Rushdie and Terry Pratchett. Sean O'Casey famously called him "English literature's performing flea", a description that Wodehouse used as the title of a collection of his letters to a friend, Bill Townend.
Best known today for the Jeeves and Blandings Castle novels and short stories, Wodehouse was also a talented playwright and lyricist who was part author and writer of fifteen plays and of 250 lyrics for some thirty musical comedies. He worked with Cole Porter on the musical Anything Goes (1934) and frequently collaborated with Jerome Kern and Guy Bolton. He wrote the lyrics for the hit song Bill in Kern's Show Boat (1927), wrote the lyrics for the Gershwin/Romberg musical Rosalie (1928), and collaborated with Rudolf Friml on a musical version of The Three Musketeers (1928).
An acknowledged master of English prose, Wodehouse has been admired both by contemporaries such as Hilaire Belloc, Evelyn Waugh and Rudyard Kipling and by more recent writers such as Douglas Adams, Salman Rushdie and Terry Pratchett. Sean O'Casey famously called him "English literature's performing flea", a description that Wodehouse used as the title of a collection of his letters to a friend, Bill Townend.
Best known today for the Jeeves and Blandings Castle novels and short stories, Wodehouse was also a talented playwright and lyricist who was part author and writer of fifteen plays and of 250 lyrics for some thirty musical comedies. He worked with Cole Porter on the musical Anything Goes (1934) and frequently collaborated with Jerome Kern and Guy Bolton. He wrote the lyrics for the hit song Bill in Kern's Show Boat (1927), wrote the lyrics for the Gershwin/Romberg musical Rosalie (1928), and collaborated with Rudolf Friml on a musical version of The Three Musketeers (1928).
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
September 12, 2018
Wonderful. Delightful, albiet a bit repetetive. Having read the prior three volumes, it felt very similar, only with different characters plaguing Wooster. Even so, a nice light read.
December 6, 2022
What do you do when you've been bogged down for weeks reading a densely-written, long-winded, boring book? Break off and (re)read a Jeeves and Wooster. It will bring spark back to your life and make you love reading again. The one I chose this time was Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves. Not the best J and W - if Bertie is so determined not to marry Madeline, all he needs to do is make sure she finds him eating a ham sandwich - but that's like saying Desire isn't one of Bob Dylan's best albums. Even a middling J and W is better than most other novels.
November 24, 2025
My wife found this tremendous 3 novel omnibus in a charity shop in West Hampstead.When she told the young man behind the counter that she was getting it for her husband, he said:
"Oh! he must be a very right-wing person".
The uneducated youth of today!
There are 3 stories here,although details of plot do not matter too much in the Jeeves and Wooster books.
Part of the pleasure of Wodehouse is that the novels are so pre-woke and pre cancel culture.You would not get away with such humour today (in fact very little humour at all is possible now):
"an intellectual girl...something short and dumpy with ink spots on the chin as worn by so many of the female intelligentsia".
"Think of the Red Indians,Bassett,I would have said to him, had we been on better terms, pointing out that they were never livelier spirits than when being cooked on both sides of the stake".
-------------
Of course it is not sexist or racist as the character Wooster is not at all free from criticism:
"I should probably have said something pretty cutting in reply to this, if I could have thought of anything, but as I couldn't,I didn't."
'The copy of Spinoza's 'Ethics" which you kindly gave me some time ago.
Good stuff?
Extremely sir.
I suppose it turns out in the end that the butler did it".
----------
The classicist references are enjoyable to one of my age,although probably meaningless to anyone struggling under contemporary educational standards:
"He was one more in the position of an Assyrian fully licensed to come down like a wolf on the fold with his cohorts all gleaming with purple and gold".
"I,with something of the emotions of Daniel passing out of the stage door of the lions' den"
"I can't live in Liverpool"
"Well of course lots of people do or so I have been given to understand, but I saw what she meant".
-----------
This is the golden age of comic writing which could not exist today, and looking at book-shops and libraries I see that there is still huge demand from the public for these books.
"Oh! he must be a very right-wing person".
The uneducated youth of today!
There are 3 stories here,although details of plot do not matter too much in the Jeeves and Wooster books.
Part of the pleasure of Wodehouse is that the novels are so pre-woke and pre cancel culture.You would not get away with such humour today (in fact very little humour at all is possible now):
"an intellectual girl...something short and dumpy with ink spots on the chin as worn by so many of the female intelligentsia".
"Think of the Red Indians,Bassett,I would have said to him, had we been on better terms, pointing out that they were never livelier spirits than when being cooked on both sides of the stake".
-------------
Of course it is not sexist or racist as the character Wooster is not at all free from criticism:
"I should probably have said something pretty cutting in reply to this, if I could have thought of anything, but as I couldn't,I didn't."
'The copy of Spinoza's 'Ethics" which you kindly gave me some time ago.
Good stuff?
Extremely sir.
I suppose it turns out in the end that the butler did it".
----------
The classicist references are enjoyable to one of my age,although probably meaningless to anyone struggling under contemporary educational standards:
"He was one more in the position of an Assyrian fully licensed to come down like a wolf on the fold with his cohorts all gleaming with purple and gold".
"I,with something of the emotions of Daniel passing out of the stage door of the lions' den"
"I can't live in Liverpool"
"Well of course lots of people do or so I have been given to understand, but I saw what she meant".
-----------
This is the golden age of comic writing which could not exist today, and looking at book-shops and libraries I see that there is still huge demand from the public for these books.
February 22, 2021
I love PG Wodehouse's writing. It is today as comic and charming as it ever was. A true comic writer. This is the 4th in the series and while the plots are not as crisp as the earlier omnibuses, it is still a delight to read.
October 20, 2025
Another wonderful collection of Novels featuring the entertaining escapades of Bertie Wooster and his gentleman’s gentleman Jeeves.
Three novels are in this omnibus and they are all jolly great fun with whizzing wheezes and farcical situations abounding throughout.
These stories will never go out of fashion as long as people have a funny bone.
Three novels are in this omnibus and they are all jolly great fun with whizzing wheezes and farcical situations abounding throughout.
These stories will never go out of fashion as long as people have a funny bone.
December 14, 2019
Three of my favorite Wooster and Jeeves novels
December 31, 2020
Review - January 1st
May 25, 2022
Everyone should read a P.G. Wodehouse novel every once in a while! Comedies of error with a nice touch!
December 25, 2025
A hoot!
September 8, 2023
Read it because I was curious. Now I read it whenever I want to feel superior. Genuinely good stuff.
April 8, 2015
This collection of stories hangs together quite well. They were written (almost) consecutively, all have Aunt Agatha in and all have Wooster getting into trouble whilst staying in country homes. The later two stories even have references to the previous tales herein so the they read together well.
That said... it may be that all the Jeeves stories are like this; I've read the 2nd Omnibus collection and the 'My Man Jeeves' collection and can honestly say I can't remember the plots or settings of any of them. Indeed my memory of this collection is also fast fading leaving only the flavour behind.
Wodehouse established a very cosy niche; the plot and characters only need to be established in outline as all that is needed is Wooster telling the story in his own words and phrases. A delightful buffoon. The classic sieve-minded English Gentleman. A harmless, helpless fool. But paired with the brilliant Jeeves this all turns to gold. If Wooster's phrases and inanity grate then you'll never love these stories as there's not much else to them. Easy reading, a pleasant time filler and quickly forgotten. As such these omnibus editions feel too long to read straight through; your mind cries out for something more substantial.
You really want to get to know Jeeves better. He's a bit like the shadows in Plato's cave or a 'Deus ex machina' that emerges from stage left and then fades into the background. You'd really like to understand more about Wooster's finances, his parents, what sort of Girl he would want to marry and why he doesn't do anything other than drink cocktails and be manipulated by other people. But if that happened they wouldn't be the affable Jeeves stories that everyone likes.
That said... it may be that all the Jeeves stories are like this; I've read the 2nd Omnibus collection and the 'My Man Jeeves' collection and can honestly say I can't remember the plots or settings of any of them. Indeed my memory of this collection is also fast fading leaving only the flavour behind.
Wodehouse established a very cosy niche; the plot and characters only need to be established in outline as all that is needed is Wooster telling the story in his own words and phrases. A delightful buffoon. The classic sieve-minded English Gentleman. A harmless, helpless fool. But paired with the brilliant Jeeves this all turns to gold. If Wooster's phrases and inanity grate then you'll never love these stories as there's not much else to them. Easy reading, a pleasant time filler and quickly forgotten. As such these omnibus editions feel too long to read straight through; your mind cries out for something more substantial.
You really want to get to know Jeeves better. He's a bit like the shadows in Plato's cave or a 'Deus ex machina' that emerges from stage left and then fades into the background. You'd really like to understand more about Wooster's finances, his parents, what sort of Girl he would want to marry and why he doesn't do anything other than drink cocktails and be manipulated by other people. But if that happened they wouldn't be the affable Jeeves stories that everyone likes.
February 2, 2023
Not the best of Wodehouse's works but still great fun. A couple of lines from Feudal Spirit that I thought were particularly inspired:
"He eyed me speculatively, heaving gently like a saucepan of porridge about to reach the height of its fever."
"...a man about seven feet in height with a square, powerful face, slightly moustached towards the centre."
Jeeves in the Offing: A minor Wodehouse but one that thankfully doesn’t overstay its welcome. The plot is far simpler than earlier books and there’s a definite feeling that this is being written on autopilot – but Wodehouse on autopilot is a lot better than many writers’ best efforts, so I’ll forgive him.
Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves: A bit of a return to form for Wodehouse. He’s going over the same old ground but with perhaps a bit more enthusiasm than he showed in the previous couple of novels. However it’s not really worth reading unless (like myself) you’re a bit of a completist.
"He eyed me speculatively, heaving gently like a saucepan of porridge about to reach the height of its fever."
"...a man about seven feet in height with a square, powerful face, slightly moustached towards the centre."
Jeeves in the Offing: A minor Wodehouse but one that thankfully doesn’t overstay its welcome. The plot is far simpler than earlier books and there’s a definite feeling that this is being written on autopilot – but Wodehouse on autopilot is a lot better than many writers’ best efforts, so I’ll forgive him.
Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves: A bit of a return to form for Wodehouse. He’s going over the same old ground but with perhaps a bit more enthusiasm than he showed in the previous couple of novels. However it’s not really worth reading unless (like myself) you’re a bit of a completist.
March 19, 2014
More of the same :-D
If you like the well used recipe of Wodehouse writing about Bertie Wooster in trouble and Jeeves rescuing him, then you'll enjoy this volume. Otherwise you'll find it a bit same-y.
I confess that on finishing this volume the third stories had blurred into one and I couldn't immediately recall the differences between 'Feudal Spirit', 'Offing' & 'Stiff Upper Lip'. But what I could recall was the intense pleasure I got from reading each one and the aching cheek muscles from grinning inanely at Bertie's many mishaps.
And like a comedian's catch phrase, I like to tick each familiar element of a Jeeves & Wooster story as they appear:
~ pinching policeman's helmet
~ winning the Scripture knowledge prize
~ stars are God's daisy chain
~ writing a piece on what a well-dressed man is wearing
~ Jael's spike
~ Aunt Agatha eating her young
etc. etc.
If you like the well used recipe of Wodehouse writing about Bertie Wooster in trouble and Jeeves rescuing him, then you'll enjoy this volume. Otherwise you'll find it a bit same-y.
I confess that on finishing this volume the third stories had blurred into one and I couldn't immediately recall the differences between 'Feudal Spirit', 'Offing' & 'Stiff Upper Lip'. But what I could recall was the intense pleasure I got from reading each one and the aching cheek muscles from grinning inanely at Bertie's many mishaps.
And like a comedian's catch phrase, I like to tick each familiar element of a Jeeves & Wooster story as they appear:
~ pinching policeman's helmet
~ winning the Scripture knowledge prize
~ stars are God's daisy chain
~ writing a piece on what a well-dressed man is wearing
~ Jael's spike
~ Aunt Agatha eating her young
etc. etc.
March 9, 2020
I remain utterly befuddled as to the decision to publish these omnibus editions in a jumbled order. These three novels, however, are in the correct run. Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit and Jeeves in the Offing are both classics. Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves is one of the less successful novels in the series, but still has its charms.
Want to read
April 17, 2008again, haven't read, but i can't wait to get to it.
jeeves and the feudal spirit (10th book)
stiff upper lip, jeeves (12th book)
jeeves in the offing (11th book)
jeeves and the feudal spirit (10th book)
stiff upper lip, jeeves (12th book)
jeeves in the offing (11th book)
September 3, 2008
What a shame I can only give Plum 5 stars.
Read
August 12, 2011More of the same as in previous Jeeves Omnibuses: Bertie gets into trouble, Jeeves gets him out of it; a recipe that P.G. Wodehouse never seemed to tire of.
February 1, 2016
enjoyment redoubled at reading them one after another
July 26, 2020
The best of the best
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews