Jeeves - Stories

Stories

The Jeeves "canon" consists of 35 short stories and 11 novels. With minor exceptions, the short stories were written and published first (between 1915 and 1930); the novels later (between 1934 and 1974).

The concept which eventually became Jeeves actually preceded Bertie in Wodehouse's imagination: he had long considered the idea of a butler—later a valet—who could solve any problem. A character named Reggie Pepper, who was very much like Bertie but without Jeeves, was the protagonist of seven short stories. Wodehouse decided to rewrite the Pepper stories, switching Reggie's character to Bertie Wooster and combining him with an ingenious valet.

Jeeves and Bertie first appeared in "Extricating Young Gussie", a short story published in September 1915, in which Jeeves's character is minor and not fully developed and Bertie's surname appears to be Mannering-Phipps. The first fully recognisable Jeeves and Bertie story was "The Artistic Career of Corky", published in early 1916. As the series progressed, Jeeves assumed the role of Bertie's co-protagonist; indeed, their meeting was told in November 1916 in "Jeeves Takes Charge".

Bertie narrates all the stories but two, "Bertie Changes His Mind" (which Jeeves himself narrates), and Ring for Jeeves (which features Jeeves but not Bertie and is written in the third person). The stories are set in three primary locations: London, where Bertie has a flat and is a member of the raucous Drones Club; various stately homes in the English countryside, most commonly Totleigh Towers or Brinkley Court; or New York City and a few other locations in the United States. All take place in a timeless world based on an idealised vision of England before World War II, essentially the same world found in the fiction of Wodehouse's near-contemporary, Agatha Christie. Only Ring for Jeeves mentions World War II.

Most of the Jeeves stories were originally published as magazine pieces before being collected into books, although 11 of the short stories were reworked and divided into 18 chapters to make an episodic semi-novel called The Inimitable Jeeves. Other collections, most notably The World of Jeeves, restore these to their original form of 11 distinct stories.

• The Man with Two Left Feet (1917)—One story in a book of thirteen
  • "Extricating Young Gussie"—The first appearances of Jeeves and Bertie, originally published 1915.
• (My Man Jeeves (1919)—Four stories in a book of eight, all four reprinted in Carry on, Jeeves. The non-Jeeves stories feature Reggie Pepper.)
  • ("Leave It to Jeeves", was reprinted in Carry on, Jeeves as "The Artistic Career of Corky"), originally published 1916.
  • ("Jeeves and the Unbidden Guest", was reprinted in Carry on, Jeeves), originally published 1916.
  • ("Jeeves and the Hard-boiled Egg", was reprinted in Carry on, Jeeves), originally published 1917.
  • ("The Aunt and the Sluggard", was reprinted in Carry on, Jeeves), originally published 1916.
• The Inimitable Jeeves (1923)—A semi-novel consisting of eighteen chapters, originally published as eleven short stories (some of which were split for the book):
  • "Jeeves Exerts the Old Cerebellum" with "No Wedding Bells for Bingo" (together "Jeeves in the Springtime", originally published 1921)
  • "Aunt Agatha Speaks Her Mind" with "Pearls Mean Tears" (together "Aunt Agatha Takes the Count", originally published 1922.)
  • "The Pride of the Woosters Is Wounded" with "The Hero's Reward" (together "Scoring Off Jeeves", originally published 1922.)
  • "Introducing Claude and Eustace" with "Sir Roderick Comes to Lunch" (together "Sir Roderick Comes to Lunch", originally published 1922.)
  • "A Letter of Introduction" with "Startling Dressiness of a Lift Attendant" (together "Jeeves and the Chump Cyril", originally published 1918.)
  • "Comrade Bingo" with "Bingo Has a Bad Goodwood" (together "Comrade Bingo", originally published 1922.)
  • "The Great Sermon Handicap", originally published 1922.
  • "The Purity of the Turf", originally published 1922.
  • "The Metropolitan Touch", originally published 1922.
  • "The Delayed Exit of Claude and Eustace", originally published 1922.
  • "Bingo and the Little Woman" with "All's Well" (together "Bingo and the Little Woman", originally published 1922.)
• Carry on, Jeeves (1925)—Ten stories:
  • "Jeeves Takes Charge" – Recounts the first meeting of Jeeves and Bertie, originally published 1916.
  • "The Artistic Career of Corky", a rewrite of "Leave It to Jeeves", originally published in My Man Jeeves
  • "Jeeves and the Unbidden Guest", originally published in My Man Jeeves
  • "Jeeves and the Hard-boiled Egg", originally published in My Man Jeeves
  • "The Aunt and the Sluggard", originally published in My Man Jeeves
  • "The Rummy Affair of Old Biffy", originally published 1924.
  • "Without the Option", originally published 1925.
  • "Fixing It for Freddie", a rewrite of a Reggie Pepper story, "Helping Freddie", originally published in My Man Jeeves
  • "Clustering Round Young Bingo"
  • "Bertie Changes His Mind"—The only story in the canon narrated by Jeeves, originally published 1922.
• Very Good, Jeeves (1930)—Eleven stories:
  • "Jeeves and the Impending Doom", originally published 1926.
  • "The Inferiority Complex of Old Sippy", originally published 1926.
  • "Jeeves and the Yule-tide Spirit" (US title: Jeeves and the Yuletide Spirit), originally published 1927.
  • "Jeeves and the Song of Songs", originally published 1929.
  • "Episode of the Dog McIntosh" (US title: Jeeves and the Dog McIntosh), originally published 1929.
  • "The Spot of Art" (US title: Jeeves and the Spot of Art), originally published 1929.
  • "Jeeves and the Kid Clementina", originally published 1930.
  • "The Love That Purifies" (US title: Jeeves and the Love That Purifies), originally published 1929.
  • "Jeeves and the Old School Chum", originally published 1930.
  • "The Indian Summer of an Uncle", originally published 1930.
  • "The Ordeal of Young Tuppy" (US title: Tuppy Changes His Mind), originally published 1930.
• Thank You, Jeeves (1934)—The first full-length Jeeves novel
• Right Ho, Jeeves (1934) (US title: Brinkley Manor)
• The Code of the Woosters (1938)
• Joy in the Morning (1946) (US title: Jeeves in the Morning)
• The Mating Season (1949)
• (Come On, Jeeves—1952 play with Guy Bolton, adapted 1953 into Ring for Jeeves, produced 1954, published 1956)
• Ring for Jeeves (1953)—Only novel without Bertie (US title: The Return of Jeeves), adapting the play Come On, Jeeves
• Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit (1954) (US title: Bertie Wooster Sees It Through)
• A Few Quick Ones (1959)—One short story in a book of ten
  • "Jeeves Makes an Omelette", a rewrite of a Reggie Pepper story originally published in My Man Jeeves
• Jeeves in the Offing (1960) (US title: How Right You Are, Jeeves)
• Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves (1963)
• Plum Pie (1966)—One short story in a book of nine
  • "Jeeves and the Greasy Bird"
• Much Obliged, Jeeves (1971) (US title: Jeeves and the Tie That Binds)
• Aunts Aren't Gentlemen (1974) (US title: The Cat-nappers)

The collection The World of Jeeves (first published in 1967, reprinted in 1989) contains all of the Jeeves short stories (with the exception of "Extricating Young Gussie") presented more or less in narrative chronological order. An efficient method of reading the entire Jeeves canon is to read The World of Jeeves followed by the eleven novels in order of publication. The novels share a certain amount of sequential narrative development between them, and the later novels are essentially sequels to the earlier ones.