The Code of the Woosters, by P.G. Wodehouse (Penguin, £6.99 in UK)

WODEHOUSE arguably reached one of his comic peaks in this book, one of the very best of the Jeeves-and-Bertie series. Though the formulae of the plot are almost too familiar by now, they are used so adroitly that there is no feeling of staleness or mechanical repetition, and the dialogue - always one of Wodehouse's strong points - is brilliant and inventive all the way. Incidentally, the character of Roderick Spode is said to have been modelled on Oswald Mosley, then widely regarded as Britain's Mussolini-style strongman of the immediate future.