Michael "Mike" Jackson

Mike Jackson is a recurring fictional character in the early novels by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being a good friend of Psmith. He appears in all the Psmith books.

Mike is a solid, reliable character with a strong sense of fair play, but an appetite for excitement and a stubbornness that often leads him into trouble. He is a keen and talented cricketer, and comes from a cricketing family (his elder brothers have all distinguished themselves), and as we follow Mike's life he himself achieves considerable cricketing success. However, as Wodehouse's writing developed away from the school stories of his early period, cricket becomes a less important aspect of the tales, as does Mike himself.

Mike Jackson appears in five novel-length works, all of which appeared as magazine serials before being published in book form.

"Jackson Junior" was later republished separately as Mike at Wrykyn (1953).

"The Lost Lambs" was later republished separately as:
* Enter Psmith (1935) and
* Mike and Psmith (1953).

In his first appearance ("Jackson Junior", later retitled Mike at Wrykyn) Mike is the sole focus of the story. Mike at Wrykyn starts with Mike heading off to prestigious Wrykyn school, where all his brothers had attended and one, Bob, is still an important figure, and a fixture in the school cricket team. Mike goes through many adventures, interspersed with cricket, during his first year at the school.

In "The Lost Lambs" (later known as Mike and Psmith or Enter Psmith), Mike is withdrawn from Wrykyn by his father after a poor academic performance, and must attend the less successful Sedleigh, much to his disgust. It is there, however, that he meets the charismatic Rupert Psmith, and the two become fast friends.

In "The New Fold" (later published as Psmith in the City), family financial troubles mean Mike cannot go to Cambridge as he had hoped, and must instead get a job at the (fictitious) New Asiatic Bank. Once there, however, he finds his friend Psmith also enrolled in the company, making his time there much more pleasurable.

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Wikipedia