Containing correspondence with the great and the good of the arts – Terry Jones, Melvyn Bragg, Joanna Lumley, John Cleese, Andre Previn, Philip Larkin, Alan Coren, Kenneth Williams, and many more – My Mother, the Bearded Lady is a selection of captivating letters from the archive of Miles Kington.

A journalist, columnist, humorist and musician, Kington began his writing career at Punch, where he created Franglais, a hugely popular fictional language, before going on to write a daily column for The Times, followed by the Independent. He wrote over thirty thousand newspaper columns in his lifetime, as well as contributing to countless magazines and other publications.

Effortlessly funny and entertaining, this collection is full of Kington's inimitable style. He kept copies of every letter he sent or received for the best part of fifty years – and the ones here have been chosen and edited by his wife, Caroline Kington.