Alexei Sayle Knihy

'It's not like other comedians' memoirs. It's funny.' Guardian

Alexei Sayle is back, with a new collection of dark, timely, and comic tales. These dazzlingly written stories cut right to the heart of the modern world

Barcelona Plates is a collection of sleek, dark, and witty short stories from the renowned comedian, presenter and actor, Alexei Sayle.

Featuring several authors hailing from “cities on the edge”—European port cities including Liverpool, Bremen, Gdansk, Istanbul, Marseilles, and Naples—this stirring collection of short stories explores these landscapes of change, from their social tensions, scars of war, and economic decline to their citizens’ attempts at regeneration and startling means to thriving and surviving. In Gdansk, a German exile returns to his childhood home in search of a valuable coin collection left behind during World War II. In Naples, a young woman desperate to escape the slums becomes a Camorra mole and eventually a political powerbroker. In Liverpool, a young Spanish soccer player arrives to fulfill his dream of playing in the Premiership, but in the backstreets of Anfield he meets a local resident with a very different perspective on the game. A look at the their shared history of dissent, diversity, and economic reinvention, this riveting compilation examines the tragedy of these cities once known as gateways to the world and as harbors of wealth and innovation.

The highly acclaimed, literary debut novel from renowned comedian and presenter Alexei Sayle

The latest novel from highly acclaimed writer Alexei Sayle - bleak, hilarious and completely unique

'Enlightening ... Funny, smart, original and provocative ... It is hard to imagine the stalwarts of Mock the Week recognising the Druze militia leader Walid Jumblatt in a London cinema' NEW STATESMAN'Few standups have come close to capturing a fraction of this creative energy in a book ... Alexei Sayle is an exception' GUARDIAN"What I brought to comedy was an authentic working-class voice plus a threat of genuine violence - nobody in Monty Python looked like a hard case who'd kick your head in."In 1971, comedians on the working men's club circuit imagined that they would be free to continue telling their tired, racist, misogynistic gags forever. But their nemesis, a nineteen-year-old Marxist art student, was slowly coming to meet them...Thatcher Stole My Trousers chronicles a time when comedy and politics united in electrifying ways. Recounting the founding of the Comedy Store, the Comic Strip and the Young Ones, and Alexei's friendships with the comedians who - like him - would soon become household names, this is a unique and beguiling blend of social history and memoir. Fascinating, funny, angry and entertaining, it is a story of class and comedy, politics and love, fast cars and why it's difficult to foul a dwarf in a game of football.

Alexei Sayle reveals his true vocation: proprietor of an imaginary sandwich shop. Blending politics, comedy, philosophy and memoir, this is the Godfather of Alternative Comedy at his most anarchic and irresistibly entertainingAlexei Sayle has been telling people he runs a sandwich bar on Gray's Inn Road that doesn't exist since the mid-1970s. From behind this imaginary counter Alexei dispenses wisdom and focaccia to his famous customers as he explores his love of pretending, reveals why he disappeared from our TV screens in the 1990's, lobbies for eleven-hour long episodes of Newsnight and discusses rampant nepotism in coveted careers. And from drawing striking comparisons between capitalism and all-you-can-eat buffets to discussing the hidden depths of Taylor Swift, this flight of fancy packs a surprising punch and will leave you hungry for more.