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Things My Girlfriend and I Have Argued About

Mil Millington

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Jan 04, 2019 Tony rated it it was amazing

Shelves: novels, setting-england

This very lightly plotted hilarious comedy by British writer Millington is apparently the spawn of a similarly titled website on which he posted vignettes of his life with his German girlfriend. This humble beginning has begat one of the funniest novels I've read in a long long time. There are basically two things going on here. The first is a running account of the comic bickering between 40ish hapless slacker "Pel" and his partner, the strong-willed German "Ursula". Their back and forth is dea This very lightly plotted hilarious comedy by British writer Millington is apparently the spawn of a similarly titled website on which he posted vignettes of his life with his German girlfriend. This humble beginning has begat one of the funniest novels I've read in a long long time. There are basically two things going on here. The first is a running account of the comic bickering between 40ish hapless slacker "Pel" and his partner, the strong-willed German "Ursula". Their back and forth is dead funny-somewhat akin to P.G. Wodehouse's stories in which Bertie Wooster gets put in his place (and then some) by his Aunt Agatha, with a kind of Nick Hornby twist. It completely and utterly fulfills the "laugh out loud funny" cliché. Since we are only shown the moments of conflict between them, their relationship seems somewhat unreal, but it's so sidesplitting it's hard to care. Anyone who takes their nastiness to each other at face value is utterly missing the point of a comic novel.

While Pel and Ursula's trials center around finding and buying a new house, dealing with their two young boys, and a ski trip to Germany, the other plotline concerns Pel's work life as a hopelessly unqualified computer administrator at a college library. When his immediate boss TJR disappears without a trace, he's surprisingly asked to take his place. Plenty of wacky antics ensue, especially when some Chinese Triads turn up looking for some money TJR owed them. Not to mention the bodies being unearthed by the construction of the new wing of the library, which Pel is now in charge of... As the complications grow, Pel sticks his head deeper in the sand and things start to spiral out of control. There are a number of scenes that recall the vast idiocy of Basil Fawlty racing through halls and ducking behind cars to avoid being seen. Some great supporting comic characters pop out of the woodwork, including the college's head PR man, "24/7 International" Nazim, a nasty harridan of a librarian, and another administrator with a sideline too shocking to reveal here.
The ending is a bit of a lame cop-out, but I actually fully prepared to let that slide given the nonstop laughs the book generated in me. I defy anyone to read the refrigerator defrosting scene or the scene where two Triads argue about cell phone plans without bursting out in laughter. Great stuff which will no doubt be made into a movie. ...more

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Jan 06, 2010 Rebecca marked it as to-read

Nov 02, 2012 Chris Walker rated it it was ok

Shelves: humor, 2000s-lit

Apr 07, 2017 Joshua Williams marked it as to-read

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