Stiff Upper Lip by Lawrence Durrell

After a lifetime serving that most delightfully British of institutions, the Foreign Office, Antrobus can’t resist musing over old times in Vulgaria at his London club – or should that be cringing … His memories of farcical gaffes and comic diplomatic misadventures star a mad inventor, a tragic cavalry officer, foreign ambassadors, embassy bachelors, a mischievous chef plotting to bring down the empire with garlic …

Celebrated British novelist, travel writer, and member of the real-life family portrayed in The Durrells in Corfu, Lawrence Durrell experienced the absurdities of mid-century diplomacy firsthand. Lampooning English empire, and eccentricity, his charming jeu d’esprit about the diplomatic corps is classic satire: but be warned: there’s a point where laughter can become painful …

This is a 1966 Faber edition. In great condition.