Alternatively you can twist the cylinder round twice clockwise; that turns it into a hand grenade. Five-second fuse. I tested it on one of my assistants. Poor old Bennett... he should be out of hospital in a couple of months.

Until he lost all his money, my father was a successful north London Jewish businessman. He was unusual among his immediate family in that he was enormously cultured and had an incredible library.

But then, he thought, most politicians are small and shabby, the sort of people who have been bullied at school. That's why they become politicians.

Whatever you say, old boy. Just look after yourself. And whatever you do, don't swallow the gum!

There are problems and there are children. It is our aim to separate the two.

He had followed the trail left by a dead man. It was only now that he realized it might lead only to a grave.

I vividly remember being 14. That was the age when I started to get happy: I started being a writer and stopped being a loser.