Piccadilly Jim is a novel

Novel

A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....

 by P. G. Wodehouse

P. G. Wodehouse

Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, KBE was an English humorist, whose body of work includes novels, short stories, plays, poems, song lyrics, and numerous pieces of journalism. He enjoyed enormous popular success during a career that lasted more than seventy years and his many writings continue to be...

, first published in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 on February 24, 1917 by Dodd, Mead and Company

Dodd, Mead and Company

Dodd, Mead and Company was one of the pioneer publishing houses of the United States, based in New York City. Under several names, the firm operated from 1839 until 1990. Its history properly began in 1870, with the retirement of its founder, Moses Woodruff Dodd. Control passed to his son Frank...

, New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, and in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 in May 1918 by Herbert Jenkins

Barrie & Jenkins

Barrie & Jenkins was a small British publishing house that was formed in 1964 from the merger of "Herbert Jenkins" and "Barrie & Rockcliffe". One of their most notable authors was P. G...

, London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. The story had previously appeared in the US in the Saturday Evening Post between 16 September and 11 November 1916.

The novel features Ogden Ford and his mother Nesta (both previously encountered in The Little Nugget

The Little Nugget

The Little Nugget is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse. It was first published in Munsey's Magazine in August 1913, before being published as a book in the U.K. on August 28, 1913 by Methuen & Co, London, and in the U.S. on February 10, 1914 by W.J. Watt and Co., New York...

(1913)). Nesta has remarried, to the hen-pecked, baseball

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

-loving millionaire Mr. Peter Pett, and Ogden remains spoilt and obnoxious. The story takes its title from the charismatic character of Jimmy Crocker, Nesta's nephew and a reforming playboy. 'Jim' is called upon to assist in the kidnapping

Kidnapping

In criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or transportation of a person against that person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority...

 of Ogden, amongst much confusion involving imposters, crooks, detectives, butlers, aunts etc. - all in the name of romance of course.

Film adaptations

Piccadilly Jim has been adapted as a film

Film adaptation

Film adaptation is the transfer of a written work to a feature film. It is a type of derivative work.A common form of film adaptation is the use of a novel as the basis of a feature film, but film adaptation includes the use of non-fiction , autobiography, comic book, scripture, plays, and even...

 three times, in 1919, 1936 and 2004, with Jimmy Crocker played by, respectively, Owen Moore

Owen Moore

Owen Moore was an Irish-born actor in American films, appearing in more than 279 movies spanning from 1908 to 1937.-Life and career:...

, Robert Montgomery

Robert Montgomery (actor)

Robert Montgomery was an American actor and director.- Early life :Montgomery was born Henry Montgomery, Jr. in Beacon, New York, then known as "Fishkill Landing", the son of Mary Weed and Henry Montgomery, Sr. His early childhood was one of privilege, since his father was president of the New...

 and Sam Rockwell

Sam Rockwell

Sam Rockwell is an American actor known for his leading roles in Lawn Dogs, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Choke and Moon, as well as for his supporting roles in The Green Mile, Iron Man 2, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Frost/Nixon, Galaxy Quest, Matchstick Men, The Assassination of...

. The 2004 version had a screenplay adapted by Julian Fellowes

Julian Fellowes

Julian Alexander Kitchener-Fellowes, Baron Fellowes of West Stafford, DL , known as Julian Fellowes, is an English actor, novelist, film director and screenwriter, as well as a Conservative peer.-Early life:...

 and was directed by John McKay

John McKay (director)

John McKay is a Scottish film and television director. His initial career was as a playwright, before he began his film career by directing the short films Doom and Gloom and Wet and Dry ....

.

External links

• The Russian Wodehouse Society's page, with numerous book covers and a list of characters