Much Obliged, Jeeves

Much Obliged, Jeeves

Front cover and spine of first edition
Author	P. G. Wodehouse
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Genre	Comedy
Publisher	Barrie & Jenkins
Publication date	15 October 1971
Media type	Print
Pages	192
ISBN
OCLC	832988
LC Class	PZ3.W817 Ms FT MEADE
Preceded by	Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves
Followed by	Aunts Aren't Gentlemen

Much Obliged, Jeeves is a comic novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on 15 October 1971 by Barrie & Jenkins, London, and in the United States on the same day by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York under the name Jeeves and the Tie That Binds.

The two editions have slightly different endings. Wodehouse's American editor gave the US edition its title and rewrote the last page, adding Jeeves' disclosure about the eighteen pages from the Junior Ganymede Club Book, and his expressed desire to remain permanently in Wooster's employment.

Written only a few years before his death, Much Obliged, Jeeves is the second-to-last appearance of Wodehouse's characters, Jeeves and Bertie Wooster (the last being Aunts Aren't Gentlemen (1974)). It forms the fourth and final instalment of the Totleigh Towers saga, though it actually takes place at Brinkley Court, the home of Bertie's Aunt Dahlia, near the town of Market Snodsbury.

A heretofore unknown old school chum of Bertie's, Ginger Winship, is standing for the House of Commons in a by-election, and Aunt Dahlia has offered the use of Brinkley as a general H. Q. for the campaign. Dahlia persuades Bertie to come down to Brinkley to assist in the canvassing.

At luncheon before departing for Brinkley, Bertie discovers that Ginger's standing in the by-election is on the wishes of his fiancée. He also discovers that said fiancée has kept him out of the metropolis for several years, and discourages him from partaking in alcoholic stimulants. On arriving at Brinkley he discovers that this hard-hearted mystery woman is none other than Florence Craye, author of Spindrift, and former fiancée of both Percy Gorringe and Bertie himself. Bertie muses on how he might save his friend from a life of encountering Florence Craye every morning over the eggs and bacon.

Before he can make progress on that front, Bertie discovers there are other guests to the party at Brinkley. Roderick Spode, 8th Earl of Sidcup has come to deliver a speech or two for Ginger, and he has brought his fiancée, Madeline Bassett. Spode still believes Bertie to be a sneak-thief from the episodes of the umbrella, the silver cow-creamer, and the African curio, and has also warned Bertie that he should not expect to win Madeline back from him.