Aleksandr Orlov is the nation's favourite meerkat and hopes to re-marble the family mansion with this fully illustrated autobiography. Detailing the escape of his ancestors from the Kalaharia and sharing anecdotes of fame generated from his Compare the meerkat TV adverts, his writing is fun and absorbing.

A Simples Life is funny, sweet and clever. This fictional 'autobiography' is a cheering immigrant adventure with illustration, puns and a hilariously skilful mangling of the English language.

the best Christmas book by a made up author... laugh-out-loud

A must-read

A fascinating insight into one of the world's greatest comic double acts

Magnificent … makes for colourful reading. The Toxteth riots, the rise of Thatcherism and the scourge of Aids… are all here, described with real fury and grief.

The Birkenhead wit tells not only of his life but that of his creation, Lily Savage... O'Grady has such an eye for a story and for dialogue that even those who aren't interested in the finer details of geisha wigs can't fail to be engaged

Funny, forthright and sharp as a knife ... O’Grady writes just as he speaks, with comedic barbs coursing through the pages

Meik Wiking reveals how you can turn your home into a snug sanctuary, no matter your space or budget