The Gobbler

Description

Julian Mann, the hard drinking, preening, and sexually provocative star of the TV sitcome Richard the Nerd, feels caught on the horns of a dilemma- should he be concentrating on his career, which is on the slide after an unseemly bout of fisticuffs at the BAFTA awards; or following his baser instincts and bedding every young girl in sight? His twin dreams of comic immortality and a penthouse flat full of booze and young models seem to be frustrated by his wife and children; by Tom, his wife's best friend from university days, a pretentious 'National Theatre Player' who appears to be competing with Julian on the small sreen and in the bedroom; by the tax man, who's chasing him for sixty thousand pounds; and by Lillith, a psychotic fan, and member of a strange Herculean cult whose eight-year cycle of death and regeneration might augur Julian's imminent nemesis...

Adrian Edmondson, the son of a peripatetic geography teacher, was born in Bradford in 1957 and brought up in Cyprus, Bahrain and Uganda. After studying drama at Manchester University he moved to London where he became one of the leading lights of the burgeoning comedy scene, helping to establish the reputation of the original Comedy Store and Comic Strip clubs. Starring as Vyvyan in the award-winning television series The Young Ones, he was also one of the original The Comic Strip Presents ... team, notably creating the spoof heavy metal band Bad News. He starred in two improvised films for television, Honest, Decent and True and Newshounds, winner of the 1990 BAFTA for best single drama, and played Brad in the West End revival of The Rocky Horror Show, and Estragon in the first West End production of Waiting for Godot. In 1991 Adrian teamed up once again with his longtime comedy partner, Rik Mayall, and created Bottom, their most popular sitcom to date. Adrian Edmondson is married to Jennifer Saunders, lives in Richmond, and has three children. The Gobbler is his first novel.