Like everything Bennett does, these stories are playful, witty and painfully observant of ordinary people's foibles. They all have brilliant twists, are immensely entertaining and highly moral. And all are modern classics.

The Laying on of Hands

The painfully observant account of a memorial service for a masseur to the famous.

The Clothes They Stood Up In

The comic tale of an elderly couple's trials after their flat is stripped completely bare.

Father! Father! Burning Bright

The savage satire on the family of a dying man who rules over them from his hospital bed.

The Lady in the Van

The true story of the eccentric old woman who is invited to live in a homeowner's front garden. She stays there, in her van, for fifteen years. The home is Alan Bennett's. It became a West End hit and a major film, starring Maggie Smith.