Improper Stories

A collection of eighteen deliciously disturbing tales by Saki, the Edwardian master of the short story. Saki’s sharp satire pierces the polite veneer of country house parties, hunting meets and evenings round the pianola. Wild beasts stampede through the drawing room, servants suffer murderous delusions and sinister children plot revenge on their elders.

These witty, macabre and sometimes bizarre stories cut through the social conventions of the Edwardian upper classes.

‘Saki is like a perfect martini but with absinthe stirred in . . . heady, delicious and dangerous.’ - Stephen Fry

‘Saki is among those few writers, inspirational when read at an early age, who definitely retain their magic when revisited decades later.’ - Christopher Hitchens

‘These delicious, hilarious and yet surgical satires are amongst the finest short stories in the English language.’ - Alexei Sayle

‘I took it up to my bedroom, opened it casually and was unable to go to sleep until I had finished it.’ - Noël Coward