Books like 'Meltdown'
Readers who enjoyed Meltdown by Ben Elton also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
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The Midnight Gang by David Walliams
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsWelcome to the Midnight Gang! Midnight is the time when all children are fast asleep, except of course for… the Midnight Gang. That is when their adventures are just beginning…When Tom gets hit on the head by a cricket ball, he finds himself at Lord Funt Hospital, and is greeted by a terrifying-looking porter...Categorized as:
drama humor literary-fiction action-adventure audiobook book children children-books -
HOT MEN: A Contemporary Romance Box Set by Ashlee Price
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA Collection of 4 Amazon Best Sellers + 1 Exclusive! This guilty pleasure is for readers who love their bad boys, alpha males and billionaires hot, dark and ready to take the women they want.. -
More Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThe divinely human comedy that began with Tales of the City rolls recklessly along as Michael Tolliver pursues his favourite gynaecologist, Mona Ramsey uncovers her roots in a desert whorehouse, and Mary Ann Singleton finds love at sea with the amnesiac of her dreams... -
The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsA writer in a totalitarian state is interrogated about the gruesome content of his short stories and their similarities to a number of child-murders that are happening in his town.'Sometimes you don't even know what you've been craving until the real thing comes along.' New York Times'McDonagh is more than just a very clever theatrical stylist. His tricks and turns have a purpose... -
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When Harry Met Sally by Nora Ephron
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsA romantic comedy about the difficult, frustrating, awful, funny search for happiness in an American city where the primary emotion is unrequited love. The complete screenplay... -
The Day That Never Comes by Caimh McDonnell
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsRemember those people that destroyed the economy and then cruised off on their yachts? Well guess what – someone is killing them. Dublin is in the middle of a heat wave and tempers are running high... -
Tales of Fosterganj by Ruskin Bond
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsNew novel by one of Indias most beloved storytellers.Set in a fictional suburb on the outskirts of Mussourie, which he has made famous with his near legendary stories.Vintage Ruskin Bond that is bound to delight his readers with his understated humour, wit and effortless storytelling... -
Life: A User's Manual by Georges Perec
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsLife: A User's Manual is an unclassified masterpiece, a sprawling compendium as encyclopedic as Dante's Commedia and Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and, in its break with tradition, as inspiring as Joyce's Ulysses... -
All in the Timing by David Ives
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe world according to David Ives is a very odd place, and his plays constitute a virtual stress test of the English language -- and of the audience's capacity for disorientation and delight. Ives's characters plunge into black holes called "Philadelphias," where the simplest desires are hilariously thwarted. Chimps named Milton, Swift, and Kafka are locked in a room and made to re-create Hamlet... -
The Importance of Being Seven by Alexander McCall Smith
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe story of Bertie and his dysfunctional family continues in this sixth instalment alongside the familiar cast of favourites - Big Lou, Domenica, Angus Lordie, Cyril and others - in their daily pursuit of a little happiness. With customary charm and deftness, Alexander McCall Smith has, yet again, given us a clever, witty and utterly delightful new novel... -
Barney's Version by Mordecai Richler
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsEbullient and perverse, thrice married, Barney Panofsky has always clung to two cherished beliefs: life is absurd and nobody truly ever understands anybody else. But when his sworn enemy publicly states that Barney is a wife abuser, an intellectual fraud and probably a murderer, he is driven to write his own memoirs... -
Further Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThe residents of 28 Barbary Lane are back again in this racy, suspenseful and wildly romantic sequel to Tales of the City and More Tales of the City.DeDe Halcyon Day and Mary Ann Singleton track down a charismatic psychopath, Michael Tolliver looks for love, landlady Anna Madrigal imprisons an anchorwoman in her basement storeroom, and Armistead Maupin is in firm control... -
The Stellar Debut of Galactica Macfee by Alexander McCall Smith
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe latest installment in the warm and welcoming 44 Scotland Street series finds all our favorite residents of Scotland's most celebrated address navigating their enchanting and eventful lives. Angus Lordie is approached in the park by a shadowy, Deep Throat-like figure with government secrets to share, who mistakes him for a journalist... -
One Way Ticket by Kate O'Keeffe, Melissa Baldwin
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWould you switch lives with someone you just met? Sabrina Monroe is poised and ready for her future as Mrs. Todd Edward Blakely. Everything seems perfect, but on the big day, suddenly she’s not so sure. Her nicely mapped out life ahead of her, she finds herself in her own movie scene as the runaway bride, climbing out of the bathroom window. All she can think is escape... -
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Einstein's Beach House by Jacob M. Appel
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsA couple adopts a depressed hedgehog; a stranger shows up, claiming to be the father of a girl's imaginary friend; a woman kidnaps her ex-husband's turtle; a family is evicted from their home, but was it ever really theirs? Heartbreaking and hilarious, the eight stories of Einstein's Beach House examine how we deceive ourselves and others, all to arrive at something far more real... -
Accidental Death of an Anarchist by Dario Fo, Joseph Farrell
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIn its first two years of production, Dario Fo's controversial farce, Accidental Death of an Anarchist, was seen by over half a million people. It has since been performed all over the world and is widely recognised as a classic of modern drama... -
The Revolving Door of Life by Alexander McCall Smith, Robert Ian MacKenzie
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsOnce more, we catch up with the delightful goings-on in the fictitious 44 Scotland Street from Alexander McCall Smith. With customary charm and deftness, Alexander McCall Smith gives us another instalment in this popular series, now running in its ninth season in The Scotsman. Anything could happen to Bertie and the gang.. -
Grave Talk by Nick Spalding
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsTime is a healer, but it helps to have a friend.The last thing Alice expects to see at her husband’s graveside on his birthday is a giant, talking frog. On closer inspection, it’s a grown man dressed as Kermit... -
What a Carve Up! by Jonathan Coe
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIf Charles Dickens and Agatha Christie had ever managed to collaborate, they might have produced this shamelessly entertaining novel, which introduces readers to what may be the most powerful family in England--and is certainly the vilest. A tour de force of menace, malicious comedy, and torrential social bile, this book marks the American debut of an extraordinary writer... -
Love in the Time of Bertie by Alexander McCall Smith
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe latest installment in the delightful 44 Scotland Street series finds all our favorite residents up to their usual hilarious hijinks. In the microcosm of 44 Scotland Street, all of life's richness is found in the glorious goings-on of its residents... -
Chicks, Man by J.D. Hollyfield
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFalling in love was the easy part. Being secretly in love with my brother’s best friend is where it got tricky. Levi Dent was off-limits. Which was probably for the best, since he barely knew I existed. Until one night I saw an opportunity I couldn’t resist. The problem was, I got caught. She tricked me. I knew there was something so familiar about her, but I just couldn’t resist... -
His Surprise Package by Ashlee Price
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA Marriage Mistake RomanceAm I really married to a billionaire?!This must be some mistake.Or is it...Being married to a handsome, chiseled, rich hottie is every woman's dream come true.But playing the role of Aaron Walsh's wife felt more like a nightmare.He's my husband but why is he so ice cold?I spend most of my time trying to figure him out... -
Murphy’s Luck by Benjamin Laskin
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsSometimes rotten luck is better than no luck at all.Jinxed from birth with mystifying bad luck, Murphy Drummer hasn’t ventured beyond the safety of his backyard since he was a little boy. To remedy his loneliness, he became the master of a thousand hobbies and as amazing as his crazy luck... -
Priceless by Sherryl Woods
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsCharismatic playboy Mack Carlton lit up a room - even a hospital room - like no one else. Dr. Beth Browning had to admit Mack's visits were a tonic for her young patient, but her own reaction was much more confusing... Although Beth didn't ask for a second opinion on her future with Mack, his aunt Destiny offered her prognosis: marriage... -
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Dead Men's Trousers by Irvine Welsh
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsA spectacular return of the wild, dissolute gang from Trainspotting, from the author the New York Times called “Blisteringly funny…. ”The gang from Trainspotting have mostly cleaned up their act…until they are drawn back together to Scotland for one last scheme—a scheme one of them won’t survive. It’s an action-packed, hilarious and rollicking trip, as well as a moving elegy to the crew... -
The Illicit Happiness of Other People by Manu Joseph
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsOusep Chacko, journalist and failed novelist, prides himself on being “the last of the real men.” This includes waking neighbors upon returning late from the pub. His wife Mariamma stretches their money, raises their two boys, and, in her spare time, gleefully fantasizes about Ousep dying... -
Harvey by Mary Chase
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsWhen Elwood P. Dowd starts to introduce his imaginary friend Harvey, a six and a half foot rabbit, to guests at a dinner party, his sister, Veta, has seen as much of his eccentric behavior as she can tolerate. She decides to have him committed to a sanitarium to spare her daughter, Myrtle Mae, and their family, from future embarrassment... -
The Woman Who Walked in Sunshine by Alexander McCall Smith
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsBusiness is slow at the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, so Mma Makutsi persuades Mma Ramotswe to take her first-ever holiday. When a new client arrives just as she's about to depart, Mma Ramotswe almost cancels her trip. But Mma Makutsi is adamant that she and Charlie have the situation in hand... -
Qualityland by Marc-Uwe Kling
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 39 ratingsIn the near future sci-fi world of Qualityland, algorithms help create an idyllic life for its citizens, but what if the perfect world wasn't built for you?Welcome to QualityLand, the best country on Earth. Here, a universal ranking system determines the social advantages and career opportunities of every member of society... -
Double Fudge Felony by Molly Maple
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWhen Charlotte McKay's new friend is accused of murder, she will do anything to solve the crime.When Charlotte befriends Lisa Swanson, her dreams of owning a cupcake bakery finally begin to come true. But when a body is discovered and all signs point to Lisa being the guilty one, Charlotte doesn't know what to believe... -
Skinny Legs and All by Tom Robbins
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 44 ratingsThis is a gutsy, fun-loving, and provocative novel in which a bean can philosophises, a dessert spoon mystifies, a young waitress takes on the New York art world, and a rowdy redneck welder discovers the lost god of Palestine... -
A Big Boy Did It and Ran Away by Christopher Brookmyre
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsBack when they were students, just like everybody else, Ray Ash and Simon Darcourt had dreams about what they'd do when they grew up. In both their cases, it was to be rock stars. Fifteen years later, their mid-thirties are bearing down fast, and just like everybody else, they're having to accept the less glamorous hands reality has dealt them... -
Mary Ann in Autumn by Armistead Maupin
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA hilarious and touching new installment of Armistead Maupin's beloved Tales of the City seriesTwenty years have passed since Mary Ann Singleton left her husband and child in San Francisco to pursue her dream of a television career in New York... -
The Big Bamboo by Tim Dorsey
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsSerge A. Storms returns!The world's most lovable serial killer is back, bringing together an Oscar-worthy cast of Sunshine State nut jobs with his insatiable passion for All Things Florida.During this latest cavalcade of nonstop felonies—from Tampa to Fort Lauderdale to Orlando—Serge finds time to resurrect his obsession with movies, particularly those showcasing his beloved home state... -
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Fever Beach by Carl Hiaasen
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsAnother instant classic from Carl Hiaasen—laugh-out-loud funny, tackling the current chaotic and polarized American culture (following in the path of Squeeze Me), with two wonderful new Hiaasen heroes“The afternoon of September first, dishwater-gray and rainy, a man named Dale Figgo picked up a hitchhiker on Gus Grissom Boulevard in Tangelo Falls, Florida... -
Handling Sin by Michael Malone
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsOn the Ides of March, our hero, Raleigh Whittier Hayes (forgetful husband, baffled father, prosperous insurance agent and leading citizen of Thermopylae, North Carolina), learns that his father has discharged himself from the hospital, taken all his money out of the bank and, with a young black female mental patient, vanished in a yellow Cadillac convertible... -
Leaven of Malice by Robertson Davies
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA false engagement announcement, printed in the Salterton Evening Bellman and heralding the impending marriage of a university instructor and a professor's daughter, sets off a chain of misadventures and... -
We Have Lost The Chihuahuas by Paul Mathews
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsLondon, 2046. The British Republic has a new First Lady. She’s Californian, ‘in-your-face, for sure’ and she’s got big plans for a Buckingham Palace refurb. When her three Chihuahuas go missing, one man is determined to avoid getting dragged into it all. His name is Pond. Howie Pond – presidential spokesperson, retired secret agent and cat lover... -
Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates by Tom Robbins
Rated: 4.03 of 5 stars · 38 ratings"As clever and witty a novel as anyone has written in a long time . . . Robbins takes readers on a wild, delightful ride. . . . A delight from beginning to end...Categorized as:
drama humor literary-fiction satire 20th-century 21st-century absurdism action-adventure -
Heart Seizure by Bill Fitzhugh
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsSpence Tailor, a lawyer with an actual set of principles, loves his mama, Rose. Rose—with advanced cardiomyopathy and a rare blood type—is scheduled for a heart transplant. But when the president's heart craps out during a photo op three months before the national election, the White House chief of staff orders the FBI to seize the heart that was going to Rose—all in the name of democracy... -
Absolute Zero: Misadventures From A Broad by Margaret Lashley
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsLa Dolce Vita or BustWe’ve all dreamed about ditching everything and running off to another country. But almost no one actually does...Well, Val Jolly feels like she's almost no one. Invisible to her husband and dissatisfied with her life, deep in her soul Val yearns to be someone else. Someone sexy. Someone happy... -
Amy Cole Has Lost Her Mind by Elizabeth McGivern
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAmy Cole is a stay-at-home mum and a woman on the edge.After a very public breakdown, Amy finds herself trying to make it through her everyday life as a high-functioning zombie with a fondness for turning even the bleakest of situations into a comedy moment...Categorized as:
humor literary-fiction satire fiction womens-fiction contemporary season-summer feminism -
The Black Prince by Iris Murdoch, Martha C. Nussbaum
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsBradley Pearson, an unsuccessful novelist in his late fifties, has finally left his dull office job as an Inspector of Taxes. Bradley hopes to retire to the country, but predatory friends and relations dash his hopes of a peaceful retirement... -
The Lonely Heart Attack Club by J.C. Williams
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsWhen Helen walked out on Jack, she left him with three things: 1. The lease on a decrepit flat that fortunately only had a couple of months to run. 2. The lease on a failing coffee shop - that had ‘always been her dream’. 3. Horace the cat. The client base on the once thriving shop was now threadbare... -
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Rumors: A Farce by Neil Simon
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsKen and Chris have found their host Charley, a prominent Government official, in his bedroom, too dazed to speak, with a bullet wound in his ear lobe! Len and Claire arrive, themselves injured in a car crash, and are soon joined by Ernest and Cookie, Glenn and Cassie, each with their own problems... -
Down and Out in Bugtussle: The Mad Fat Road to Happiness by Stephanie McAfee
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWhen her dream life in Florida with her now-ex-fiancé goes south, so does Ace — she moves back home to Bugtussle, Mississippi, and into her late Gramma Jones' little house. But even though her best friends, Lilly and Chloe, are thrilled that she's returned home, not everything is smooth sailing... -
Switch Bitch by Roald Dahl
Rated: 3.97 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsIn Switch Bitch four tales of seduction and suspense are told by the grand master of the short story, Roald Dahl.Topping and tailing this collection are The Visitor and Bitch, stories featuring Dahl's notorious hedonist Oswald Hendryks Cornelius (or plain old Uncle Oswald) whose exploits are frequently as extraordinary as they are scandalous... -
The House of Sleep by Jonathan Coe
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsLike a surreal and highly caffeinated version of The Big Chill, Jonathan Coe's new novel follows four students who knew each other in college in the eighties. Sarah is a narcoleptic who has dreams so vivid she mistakes them for real events. Robert has his life changed forever by the misunderstandings that arise from her condition. Terry spends his wakeful nights fueling his obsession with movies... -
The Best Laid Plans by Terry Fallis
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsA burnt-out political aide quits just before an election — but is forced to run a hopeless campaign on the way out. He makes a deal with a crusty old Scot, Angus McLintock — an engineering professor who will do anything, anything, to avoid teaching English to engineers — to let his name stand in the election... -
The Onieses: Winter by Josie Brown
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsIN BOOK 2 OF THE TOTLANDIA SERIES Five mommies are just one misstep away from entry into the elite Pacific Heights Moms & Tots Club. Everyone has a scandalous secret to hide, but who will be the next to fall? As the club's founder, Bettina, ratchets up the stress level with a series of holiday-themed challenges, the cracks begin to show...
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