Frozen Assets

by P.G. Wodehouse

The quintessential comedy master returns with another tale that will have you laughing out loud and yearning for more.For Edmund Biffen Christopher, life is about to be very good--assuming he can stay out of trouble. If he can avoid being arrested until his thirtieth birthday, he will inherit his godfather's millions. The trouble is, Biff has a certain proclivity for getting into fisticuffs ... particularly with policemen. And he's already nearing thirty.Adding to his troubles is Lord Tilbury, who wants the fortune for himself. If Tilbury can make Biff fall foul of the law, his wish will come true. True to form, Wodehouse will see to it that everyone gets what's coming to them, one way or another.

Genres: Humor, Fiction, Comedy, Audiobook, Classics, British Literature, Novels

191 pages, Paperback

First published July 14, 1964

About the author

Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, KBE, was a comic writer who enjoyed enormous popular success during a career of more than seventy years and continues to be widely read over 40 years after his death. Despite the political and social upheavals that occurred during his life, much of which was spent in France and the United States, Wodehouse's main canvas remained that of prewar English upper-class society, reflecting his birth, education, and youthful writing career.

An acknowledged master of English prose, Wodehouse has been admired both by contemporaries such as Hilaire Belloc, Evelyn Waugh and Rudyard Kipling and by more recent writers such as Douglas Adams, Salman Rushdie and Terry Pratchett. Sean O'Casey famously called him "English literature's performing flea", a description that Wodehouse used as the title of a collection of his letters to a friend, Bill Townend.

Best known today for the Jeeves and Blandings Castle novels and short stories, Wodehouse was also a talented playwright and lyricist who was part author and writer of fifteen plays and of 250 lyrics for some thirty musical comedies. He worked with Cole Porter on the musical Anything Goes (1934) and frequently collaborated with Jerome Kern and Guy Bolton. He wrote the lyrics for the hit song Bill in Kern's Show Boat (1927), wrote the lyrics for the Gershwin/Romberg musical Rosalie (1928), and collaborated with Rudolf Friml on a musical version of The Three Musketeers (1928).

Reviews

[Jason Koivu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Classic Wodehouse. Classic comedy.

Here's the basics. Biff stands to gain an large inheritance if he can only keep himself from getting pinched by the local constabulary. Problem is, Biff likes to drink and when he drinks he gets up to shenanigans, inevitably getting himself pinched. That's where his buddy Jerry, the long-suffering editor of a gossip rag, comes in. He's tasked with keeping Biff's nose clean. Why? Because Jerry wants to marry Biff's sister and she really wants Biff to inherit that money. See what I mean? Classic Wodehouse.

While not hilarious all the way through, Wodehouse spreads a bucketful of laughs liberally throughout Frozen Assets. The opening scene is a prime example of the author's trying-the-main-character's-patience gags. Wodehouse can even squeeze the last ounce of humor out of such an insignificant character as the bad guy's solicitor.

The unintentionally funny thing about this one is that it was written in the 1960s and a contemporary detail or two is dropped, such as Khrushchev's name being spoken in vain, and yet the setting and characters' affectations are clearly late Victorian England. Mannerisms are dated. Butlers and chauffeurs abound. That's not to say these things couldn't have existed in Khrushchev's time, but the times had changed by the 1950s-60s, Wodehouse had not. And that's just as well. He had more Jeeves & Wooster to write before he died and that odd couple needed to remain staunchly of their time.

Good book. Not great. I prefer the J&W, Blandings Castle, or even Ukridge stuff over these stand-alone novels.

[Jean-Luke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wodehouse in the age of Khrushchev. Not that anyone's building a bomb shelter or chanting Ban the Bomb! but at least it's not entirely set in the usual bubble. Wodehouse remains Wodehouse, and this one features quite the game of musical Towsers—I mean trousers. Like Kurt Vonnegut's God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, the plot revolves around the inheritance of a large sum of money. Various characters are in love with various other characters, and blondes take a bit of a knock. Wodehouse is the equivalent of floating lazily downstream on a sunny Sunday afternoon. No waterfalls, no crocodiles, just blue skies above and a light breeze rustlinf the leaves.

[Barry · Rating 4 out of 5]

My sister gave me this book she picked up while in London. I had no idea that PGW was still writing books as late as 1964, but it was a fun surprise. Of course it’s clever and zany like you’d expect, but the plotline seems less convoluted and more believable than many of his earlier works. There’s not quite so much silliness, and maybe fewer hilariously quotable lines, but PGW’s tongue-in-cheek humor is entertaining from start to finish. He’s a master for sure.

Thanks for the great gift Trace!

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I've generally enjoyed the Wodehouse standalone novels I've read, for the first stretch of this, I definitely thought I might have made the wrong choice in picking up this one over The Small Bachelor. I've been in a bit of a slump with fiction though since finishing Terra Ignota back in April, so it's hard to say how much is the book and how much was me.

If I'm to pick out this book's weakness, it's the characters. Of course, as I mentioned in an update, one doesn't really pick up Wodehouse for deep characterization. It's typically his delightful prose and his humor that I pick up Wodehouse for. But I do typically need to invest in at least one of the characters to get through any novel, and that was definitely a problem here.

The cover copy would have you thinking Biff is our MC in Frozen Assets, but he's not even on stage till page 43. The book bounces around between Jerry, the editor of a tabloid called Society Spice and an old friend of Biff's from his time in the US; Pilbeam, a sketchy Private Detective, and former editor of Society Spice; Lord Tilbury, rich guy, and owner of Society Spice; and Biff, who gives off a kind of amiable jock vibe, the sort who doesn't mean any harm, but manages to do plenty of it anyway while remaining oblivious to his own shortcomings.

The only one of them I didn't dislike was Jerry and he's so thin his entire personality is basically being in love with Kay, Biff's sister. The women were fine, but it's the men who are the primary POV characters, so that doesn't help.

Despite making me laugh, this was headed for a solid "meh", but the pace unexpectedly picked up in the final third, and I enjoyed myself quite a bit as I tore through the last 80 pages.

So... not one of my favorites, but I'll round it up to a 4 on the strength of the third act.

[Gerry · Rating 2 out of 5]

'Frozen Assets' begins promisingly enough but after the typical Wodehouse humour in the opening chapters, it sadly degenerates into a somewhat meandering plot with too much (I don't like saying twaddle about one of my favourite authors) ineffective, non-funny and uninteresting conversation and plot lines. It comes across as a book written towards the end of the author's most creative life (as indeed it is) and as such has lost that Wodehouse panache.

Originally entitled 'Biffen's Millions' when first published in the USA, it concerns Edmund Biffen Christopher's inheritance of a vast fortune from his teetotal godfather providing that he keeps out of trouble until his 30th birthday. Does he? Well, he tries, despite the scheming of Lord Tilbury and his henchman Pilbeam, while his pal Jerry Shoesmith, who flirts with romance in the background, tries to keep him on the straight and narrow.

Not one of Wodehouse's best - plenty of subsidiary characters but none particularly memorable - and very definitely not in the Jeeves and Wooster class.

[Leslie · Rating 3 out of 5]

March 2018 reread: No changes in my previous opinion.

3.5 stars. I think that if this audiobook had been narrated by Jonathan Cecil I might have given it 4*. While Simon Vance did a perfectly good narration, his voice didn't convey the zaniness of Wodehouse's plot.

As for the book itself, while not the pinnacle of Wodehouse, this late novel in his œuvre (1964) recalled some of his earlier books (which is a good thing).

[Christmas Carol ꧁꧂ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read this tiny book so many times & the opening chapters where Jerry is battling with French officialdom still has me in tears of laughter.

I've never used the word insouciant in my life, but insouciant is what this book is & by the end of it you wish Biff, Jerry & Kay were amongst your real life friends!

This is a very short book so perfect for holiday reading!

[QNPoohBear · Rating 4 out of 5]

More than 3 stars but less than a full four

While on vacation in Paris and caught up in police red tape, Jerry Shoesmith runs into Kay Christopher, a girl he met on the boat from New York and hasn't seen since. Kay was a good friend and helps Jerry out when he's in a pickle. He agrees to return the favor but if he had known how difficult it would be, he may not have agreed. Kay's brother Edmund Biffen "Biff" Christopher has disappeared, most likely on a bender but Kay is worried. She asks Jerry to find Biff in London. Back in London, Biff is in excellent health enjoying a drunken spree after breaking up with his straight-laced fiance Linda. He's about to run out of money when an inheritance from a godfather he barely knew falls into his lap. Woohoo! This angers Lord Tilbury of Mammoth Publishing Co. who should have received the inheritance from his brother. When Biff finds out there's a catch to his millions there may be a problem. It's up to Jerry to keep Biff from losing everything.

This is a good late Wodehouse. It follows the usual pattern of Wodehouse comedies without reaching the extreme screwball level. There is a very funny sequence where Wodehouse makes the difference between American English and British English the butt of a joke. This is the only Wodehouse novel I've read that actually gives specific world events to pinpoint a time after WWII when jet settlers thought nothing of hopping on a plane to Paris from London and back. At first glance it seems as if Jerry is our hero. Jerry is an anti-Wodehouse hero. He's sober and relatively boring. It's Biff, Jerry's best friend, who fits the mold of a Wodehousian hero. Biff is akin to Bertie Wooster. If you like that type, you'll like Biff. While Biff is charming, I liked Jerry better. There are also two female tropes here- free spirited Kay and straight-laced Linda. I didn't like Kay very much. She's a little too breezy and the romantic plot didn't appeal to me. I didn't like Linda either for she is all wrong for Biff. I don't believe she can keep him in line very long.

Making their reappearance here are Lord Tilbury and his former editor turned private detective Percy Pilbeam. Lord Tilbury is still a tyrant. He is so awful. Percy Pilbeam is still a pill. He too drove me crazy by his horridness. He is shrewd and knows how to play his ex-boss. They deserve each other. Lord Tilbury is crazy about his secretary Gwendoline Gibbs. I really didn't like his feelings towards her at all. While Wodehouse always keeps it light and funny, it's unethical and Gwendoline is somewhat in the dark. While Gwendoline seems like she might be ditzy, she's as shrewd as her cousin Percy and knows how to get what she wants. This story introduces Kay's fiance Henry Blake-Somerset. Henry is a prosy bore who is engaged to a girl he barely knows or has feelings for. His mother sounds like a nightmare and he's tied to her apron strings. He should marry Linda but I doubt his mother would approve. Henry is the type who is used to getting what he wants and it makes him very unpleasant. Lord Tilbury's lawyer Mr. Bunting shows up at the end to add an extra notch of humor.

Don't binge on Wodehouse but read this if you need something light and fun and haven't read Wodehouse in awhile.

[Meem Arafat Manab · Rating 4 out of 5]

অনেকদিন পরে উডহাউজ পড়াটা হচ্ছে অনেকদিন পর গ্রামের বাড়িতে যাওয়ার মত। যতই টিভি আসুক, ডিশের লাইন আসুক, আসুক নিকিতা ক্রুশ্চেভ আর হালের স্মার্টফোন, সবকিছু তবুও কেমন আদ্যিকালে আটকে থাকে। এই বইয়েই দেখুন, মস্ত দালান আছে, বাটলার আছে, উডহাউজের প্রতি বইয়ের মত এখানেও তিন তিনটা প্রণয় আছে।
মিল এইখানেও শেষ না। বাড়িতে যাবেন, যাই দেখবেন ভালো লাগবে। হাই তুলবেন, একটু হাফ ছাড়বেন শহর ছাড়তে পেরে, ভাববেন বেলা করে উঠবেন, কিন্তু বাড়ির ঐ কয়েকদিন এত নিরর্থক, অথচ এত ঘটনাবহুল, জেগে থাকতেই হবে।
উডহাউজ পড়তে ভালো লাগে, রসের এত বড় হাড়ি মুজতবা আলীও আগলে রেখে দিছেন, আমাদের খেতে দেন নাই। উডহাউজ ছাড়া কেউই মনে হয় দেন নাই। প্রত্যেকটা বইয়ের গল্প এক, রস একরকম, অথচ ভালো লাগে পড়তে। এবং কস্মিনকালেও টানা দুইটা পড়া যায় না।
বাড়িতে গিয়ে টানা বসে থাকবো, এত সুখ কী আর কপালে সইবে? সুতরাং, এইটা পড়লাম, ভালো লাগলো, বিশেষত প্রথম বিশ পাতা ত আগুন, ব্যস। আর তিন মাস এইমুখো হচ্ছি না।

পাতলা বই, দূরপাল্লায�� যাওয়ার সময় শেষ করে দেয়া যায়।

[Pamela Shropshire · Rating 5 out of 5]

Practically all of Wodehouse’s writings are comedic gems and this is no exception. Biff has just learned his godfather has died and left Biff his vast fortune. Biff is understandably ecstatic and naturally is in the mood to indulge in a celebratory night on the town. However when Biff has one - or ten - too many, he is apt to act out his aggression toward the denizens of law and order, and the Will has one condition: Biff cannot get arrested or he loses his inheritance.

Biff is in love with Linda. Biff’s best friend, Jerry Shoesmith, is in love with Biff’s sister, Kay. Lord Tilbury, the brother of the deceased millionaire, is in love with his late brother’s millions which are, unfortunately to his mind, going to the good-for-nothing Biff. Into this mix, throw in a couple of lawyers, policemen, a pedigreed dog, and a private investigator named Percy Pilbeam, and what you have is a delightfully funny romp.

[Carol Bakker · Rating 4 out of 5]

The greatest draw of P.G. Wodehouse to me is his vocabulary and the way he appropriates biblical and literary quotes in the funniest way. The plot is tertiary, at best. In Frozen Assets Edmund Biffen Christopher ("Biff") stands to inherit about ten million from his godfather with only one proviso: Biff must not be arrested, even for a misdemeanor, before he turns thirty. Can a man who loves to drink and fight make it one week without getting arrested?

This was a great audio listen (yay you, Simon Vance!); but audio has it drawbacks. You hear the perfectly formed phrase and you repeat it three times aloud, hoping it will stick to your hippocampus. Alas, there is no adhesive.

I transposed one sentence. Stealing trousers and leaving the victim in his skivvies is a recurring theme. A steals from B. B steals from C. C steals from D. The trousers don't always fit, but they cover the necessaries. Thither he directed his steps; difficult steps, for the Philbeam trousers were an unpleasantly snug fit, sticking closer than a brother.

[Seth Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun fun fun.

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wodehouse is always delightful, and this is no exception. It is occasionally surprising to read a reference to something post-1920 - Wodehouse gives an impression of early-20th century timelessness.

[Keith Kresge · Rating 3 out of 5]

The least enjoyable of my Wodehouse exposures, but still with some high points and zippy lines.

“At heart, he was an egghead.”
...
“You feel we can rule out suicide as a possibility?”
“Good heavens yes. Biff wouldn’t kill himself with a ten foot pole.”

[Carla · Rating 4 out of 5]

The language in this book is just fun. I wish things that pithy regularly came out of my mouth.

[Mandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you're already into Wodehouse's style of writing and storytelling, this might be a fun filler read. If you're new to Wodehouse, DO NOT start with this book - there are much better ones out there from his repertoire.

Wodehouse's books, especially his standalone novellas (?), are always pretty difficult to summarise simply because his signature style is having a convoluted plot with multiple threads of developments that somehow eventually converge into a single satisfying resolution for the character ensemble involved.

Edmund Biffen Christopher, or "Biff" in short, is the unexpected heir of a rich uncle who has just passed away - on one condition: in order to preserve the family name, the will states that Biff must not get arrested, especially not for misdemeanor, before he turns 30 in a few weeks' time. Another relative and a distant uncle, Lord Tilbury, starts scheming to get Biff to break this condition just so he can get his hands on the fortune himself. Along the way, we also meet Kay Christopher, Jerry Shoesmith, Percy Pilbeam, and Henry Blake-Somerset with what feels like a dozen other love triangles, espionage, and plot complications.

While I decently enjoyed this book, I wouldn't recommend this for those new or skeptical about Wodehouse. The subject matter felt a little too frivolous and the story wasn't as tight as it could've been. This is for Wodehouse's standards, which already has the bar set pretty high - another writer could not have pulled off the plot even for Frozen Assets. At the end of it all, you are left with a sense of "What did I just read?" - this is something I could forgive for Wodehouse simply because of how irreverent and deliberately frivolous his works can be, although his better books are at least much more satisfying than this.

The characters were decent, but I never reached a level of attachment with them as I would've with, say, Bertie Wooster, Jeeves, or even Aunt Agatha. I was also a little disturbed at the men's way of courting girls, which is simply to "kiss her senseless" (even if against her will) until she says yes. I get that this was probably the gender dynamic back at the time this was written, but - eh.

Overall, a decent, enjoyable read especially for existing Wodehouse fans, but not anything super stellar considering the rest of his repertoire and not what I'd recommend for readers new to Wodehouse.

[S. Suresh · Rating 5 out of 5]

With one of the most humorous beginnings to a story by Wodehouse, the outrageous scene in a Paris police station featuring Jerry Shoesmith and Kay Christopher is guaranteed to have you in stitches. Frozen Assets is the story of Biff Christopher, Kay’s playboy brother and Jerry’s friend, who needs to stay off trouble for a week in order to lay his hands on the multi-million bequeathed to him by his eccentric godfather Edmund Biff Pyke. Can he? Or will Lord Tilbury, already flush with millions, and desirous of more, succeed in usurping Biffen’s Millions with the help of the devious detective Percy Pilbeam?

If the opening scene doesn’t cut it for you, then the de-trousering act, another of Wodehouse’s fav comedy routine, ought to – not once, but four times, starting with Biff, followed by Tilbury, Pilbeam and finally, the uptight Henry Blake-Somerset. Frozen Assets does not involve a complicated plot that Wodehouse is famous for, but it is situational humor at its best.

[Krishna Kumar · Rating 2 out of 5]

The opening parts of the book (where we are introduced to the maddening red tape of the French police) are pure Wodehouse genius. Unfortunately, the rest of the book is a plot on auto-pilot. You can almost predict the twists and turns of the storyline and Wodehouse misses many tricks to keep the reader surprised. The ending is also perhaps a little rushed.

Having compared a few books of Wodehouse written at different times, it seems evident that his later books (as is this book published in 1964) are tired. They are plot-driven rather than character-driven. For example, in “Biffen’s Millions”, Edmond Biffen knows that he will lose a fortune if he is arrested, yet he decides to risk that by drinking. That is not logical, only the plot forces the character to think like that. A better setup might be that Biffen is tricked into imbibing something that makes him drunk. That would have been more believable and been a better use of the plot as well as a proper understanding of the character.

[Tommy Verhaegen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heel wat mannen verliezen hun broek in dit boek. En verder zou het geen Wodehouse zijn als er geen verliefde stelletjes de hoofdrol zouden spelen. En precies dat staat op de cover, gestileerd en correct.
Zoals gebruikelijk worden dochters (en zonen) die een, volgens de familie, "verkeerde" liefde beleven opgesloten op een kasteel op het platteland. Daar worden dan plots gesmeed om enerzijds te ontsnappen en met de geliefde te trouwen en anderzijds om ze te dwingen met een "juiste" persoon te trouwen. Zoals het kenmerk is van Wodehouse zit dit boek vol misverstanden, achtervolgingen, drama, intriges, foute en ongewenste beslissingen op basis van verkeerde info of omwille van "noblesse oblige" en "stiff upper lip". Uiteraard komt de adel er nogal belachelijk vanaf en is het het personeel, geleid door de butler van dienst dat gezond verstand toont. Al is de butler hier niet helemaal zuiver op de graat, zelf betrokken partij door een weddenschap en bovendien in een vete gewikkeld met de jongste bediende.
Het begin is bruusk en gooit ons midden in de aktie. Een jong (en mooi) meisje stapt bij een vreemde jongeman in de taxi en vraagt hem haar te verbergen voor haar achtervolger. En dan zijn we vertrokken...
Het is afgezaagd om te zeggen dat het een van de betere boeken van Wodehouse is want dat zijn ze haast allemaal van zodra zijn werk de nodige humoristische maturiteit bereikte, maar toch is het zo!

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wodehouse is very funny and the narrator is quite good, but this one left me a little cold.

I'm getting to be a bit of a wet blanket in my middle-age, and I didn't really find any of the "likable" characters likable. Since at this point I find the idea of possessing tens of millions of dollars to be an immoral act, I just couldn't get into the plot, despite the skill of Wodehouse's writing.

[Maud]

Graag gelezen boekje, fijne humor, lijkt stijve schrijfstijl, maar bevat veel leuke gebeurtenissen en ook vooral door de manier van beschrijven en van de zaken te bekijken is het wel grappig.

[Sarandah chrysalis · Rating 3 out of 5]

We all need a madcap caper story now and then! The French policeman was the best part of the whole story

[Lyle · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is fun.

This is my best review of a book.

Which is also fun.

Have a good day.

[Lorri Steinbacher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pure Wodehouse. You get some chuckles, a quirky hero to root for, a villain to root against, and slapsticky twists and turns.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mr. Wodehouse writes my kind of humor.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

An amusing trifle, filled with cultural misunderstandings and romantic entanglements, that made me laugh out loud

[Leigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hahahahahahaha awesome!!! Everything just happened to work out in the end, and my favourite scene by far was the one where everybody basically played musical chairs with their trousers. By the end, everyone was wearing a strangers pair and i'm still not sure how, haha.
Awww loved Pilbeam and Tilbury. Best villains ever!!! Even if the lord did actually have a soft sweet side for miss Gwendolyn Gibbs.

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vintage Wodehouse -- enjoyed this a lot! Spoiler alert: all's well that ends well. And end well it does. And the getting there is pretty fine for the appreciative reader. As usual, lots of bumbling and the occasional chance meeting, this one focuses on the young professionals-about-town and one fellow's chance to inherit a fortune, those who try to keep him from it, and those who come to his aid. Plum fun (pun intended).

[Ned Thacker · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The Sergeant of Police who sat at his desk in the dingy little Paris police station was calm, stolid and ponderous, giving the impression of being constructed of some form of suet. He was what Roget in his Thesaurus would have called ‘not easily stirred or moved mentally’, in which respect he differed sharply from the large young man standing facing him, whose deportment resembled rather closely that of a pea on a hot shovel.” O bliss, o rapture

[Katrin V · Rating 3 out of 5]

All Wodehouse is worth reading. Some are more worth reading than others. Thus one garnered a few good laughs out loud and was a pleasant distraction. Probably a 4 star in comparison to other authors, but only a 3 star in comparison to PGW’s works.