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Boswell's Lives
Boswell's Lives
Nov 10, 2025 3:28 PM

Author:Jon Canter,Miles Jupp,Harry Enfield,Full Cast

Boswell's Lives

Miles Jupp stars as James Boswell in four fantastic episodes of Jon Canter's BBC Radio 4 comedy.

'A work of genius' Radio Times

James Boswell, Dr Johnson's celebrated biographer, turns time traveller to pursue other legends to immortalise in this award-winning comedy series. Hampered by his own pomposity and self-importance, he finds that his subjects get the better of him – with hilarious consequences.

Interviewing Sigmund Freud, Boswell is wrong-footed when Freud asks all the questions, and on meeting Maria Callas (and her poodle) he becomes caught up in an opera of his own making. While talking to Harold Pinter he finds himself the victim of a betrayal, and Boris Johnson proves to be a formidable opponent – especially on the whiff-whaff table.

Written by acclaimed comedy author Jon Canter, this hugely entertaining series won the Prix Europa for Best European Radio Series of the Year. It stars Miles Jupp as Boswell, with Henry Goodman as Freud, Arabella Weir as Callas, Harry Enfield as Pinter and Alistair McGowan as Boris Johnson. Duration: 2 hours approx.

Reviews

Memoirs of a Geisha meets The Piano Teacher, in the best way.

—— InStyle

An absolute must. Gripping from the first page, you'll not want to put it down.

—— Marie Claire

A masterfully written story of loss, hope and forgiveness.

—— BBC Radio 2 Book Club

Astonishingly accomplished debut . . . the graceful style and clarity of her writing make this an addictive read.

—— MUST READS , Daily Mail

A rich, romantic story, brimming with restrained emotion – with a twist that will take your breath away.

—— Sunday Mirror

An emotional page-turner

—— Daily Express

Extraordinary… the interweaved stories of love, loss and human failings are as captivating as any novel I have read in years.’

—— Eastern Daily Press

Like Snow Falling on Cedars and The Reader, here is one of those rare life opportunities to look again at ourselves, and forgive, achieved with striking style, an unflinching eye and through a clever narrative. Brava Jackie Copleton.

—— Mary-Rose Maccoll, author of IN FALLING SNOW

An exceptional tale of a family in crisis . . . at once intimate and sweeping, profoundly subtle and yet remarkably affecting, the story reminds the reader that public catastrophe interrupts myriad smaller, but no less devastating, private troubles, magnifying their consequences and obstructing their resolution. This is a mesmerizing, heart-wrenching story of love and regret, but ultimately, and most assuredly, the healing generosity of hope. I couldn't put it down. I read the end on an airplane, and had to hide my tears from the other passengers.

—— .”—Robin Oliveira, New York Times bestselling author of MY NAME IS MARY SUTTER

Full of delicate imagery drawing on Japanese nature and culture, this is a rich, romantic story, brimming with restrained emotion – with a twist that will take your breath away. Superb.

—— Sunday Mirror

This is a truly wonderful novel about the intricacies of parenting, regret, forgiveness and the exquisite pain of love

—— Love Reading

A gorgeous book

—— Sara Cox , Daily Express

Rich, bejeweled narrative.

—— Monocle

A glittering kaleidoscope of stories which creates a dazzling whole.

—— Gareth Watkins, four stars , Stylist

Rushdie is a generous, good-natured writer who’d rather woo and seduce his readers than reduce the truth to gall and brimstone and make them swallow it.

—— Ursula K Le Guin , Guardian

Fans should be satisfied and newcomers bemused, then enchanted, by the wordsmithery on show.

—— Manchester Evening News

Two Years, Eight Months And Twenty-Eight Nights blends Arabian myth, history and sci-fi into a whirlwind of a fable.

—— Joanne Finney , Good Housekeeping

A mesmerizing modern tale about worlds dangerously colliding, the monsters that are unleashed when reason recedes, and a beautiful testament to the power of love and humanity in chaotic times.

—— Kevin McGough , The Fix

A festive treat… I know it will bring light, warmth and humour along with a playful understanding of the vagaries of human nature.

—— Mariella Frostrup , Observer

A joyous, fractured fairytale with a cast of thousands and a darkly glittering heart.

—— Alex Preston , Observer

Will no doubt be read for generations to come.

—— Rohan Silva , Evening Standard

Salman Rushdie described a battle between Islamic jinn for a 21st-century Earth.

—— Tim Martin , Daily Telegraph

An energetic return to form pitting reason against religious zeal

—— Justine Jordan , Guardian

Magic realism squared […] the most madcap fun you’re likely to have in a book this year.

—— Olaf Tyaransen , Hot Press

I love, love, love the Rushdie – I think it’s my favourite of his… The fantasy elements are just magical and, of course, it’s gorgeously written.

—— Marianne Faithfull , Observer

An apocalyptic battle between reason and unreason, good and evil, light and darkness, with all the bells and whistles of a Hollywood blockbuster.

—— Carlos Fraenkel , London Review of Books

Not only a beautifully written satire-as-fairytale but the subject matter is bang on trend… That Rushdie should still be writing so potently and still be continuing to push back the frontiers, when he could easily pull up a deck chair and languish on the frontiers he already owns is wonderful, inspirational and profoundly (but only in the best way) terrifying… 10/10, Master.

—— Starburst Magazine

Ambitious, smart and dark fable that is full of rich and profound notions about human nature.

—— Katherine McLaughlin , SciFi Now

I like to think how many readers are going to admire the courage of this book, revel in its fierce colours, its boisterousness, humour and tremendous pizzazz, and take delight in its generosity of spirit.

—— Ursula K Le Guin , Guardian
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