Latest Posts

• Where to write

  So. The rather awesome J K Rowling wrote swathes of the “Harry Potter” series in cafes in Edinburgh. Can other writers do this? With iPad…

• The Americans: Avenue of the Heroes

  In 1979 I hitch-hiked for seven weeks around the United States. What did I learn about the US of 1979, and what does that tell…

• The Americans: leaving New York

  In 1979 I hitch-hiked for seven weeks around the United States.  What became of the carefree, relaxed young 21 year-old of these pages?  Can I…

• Blood Summit: Reading group questions

  Several people have asked me if my Berlin Thriller Blood Summit is suitable for reading groups or book groups. Blood Summit is ideal for reading groups…

• Vienna and Istanbul: the best cities on earth?

  People often ask me: ‘What is the best city you have lived in, apart obviously from Manchester?  Is it London?  Berlin?  Moscow? Istanbul?  Kyiv?  Or…

• “Prep”: is this how women think? 7/10

  Many years ago I worked alongside a young woman who, long before in another city, had had a relationship with a man who now worked…

• How to be understood: 7 tips

  The influential gallery director sits down with the visiting guest in a museum cafe.  Both are speaking English but only the guest is a native…

• The Third Man Museum: a Vienna gem 10/10

  The woman at the entrance seems delighted to see me.  Having sold me a ticket, she rises from her seat and accompanies me to the…

• Hard boiled: Chandler, Spillane and Hammett

  All I saw was the dame standing there in the glare of the headlights waving her arms like a huge puppet and the curse I…

• Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves: review and quotes

  Those who know the code of the Pimms will know that the blogs on this site are consistently honest.  No fake news here, or indeed…

• A new blog every week? Views welcome

  It has been a good run. Since 12 August 2017 I have written a blog every week, usually published on a Saturday afternoon, in addition…

• Making fun of the English? The great George Mikes 10/10

  If you have not read How to be an Alien by George Mikes, please go and buy a copy instantly.  You will not regret it. George…

• Lady Anna: cruelty, feminism and power 7/10

  How much cruelty can you squeeze into a 150,000 word novel? A huge amount, if that book is Lady Anna, written by Anthony Trollope at the…

• Thank you!

  ‘How many people are you expecting at your reading?’ ‘Well, it’s impossible to know.  Maybe five, maybe 20.’ ‘But how many people will you will…

• This Friday 15 June! My live reading from “Blood Summit”

  What does reclusive author Robert Pimm look like in the flesh? You can find out on Friday 15 June at the wonderful Shakespeare & Co bookshop…

• Lee Child’s Jack Reacher novels – 8/10

  Burly, yet brilliant.  Violent, yet sensitive to the needs of women.  Loyal to friends, yet indifferent to relationships. Meet Jack Reacher, U.S. hero of British…

• Trollope vs Black Panther: life lessons

  I am on a four-stage plane journey, from Vienna to Sharm-el-Sheikh and back via Istanbul.  On the first leg, from Vienna to Istanbul, my Turkish…

• Seven Hotel Stories. Yes, seven

  Someone pointed out recently that I hadn’t written about the Hotel Stories for some time. In fact, I recently rebranded The Hotel Stories – Complete Collection as Seven Hotel…

• “Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit”: 20 delicious quotations

  I have written several times in these chronicles of my slow-burn devotion to the works of P G Wodehouse, including my induction (How to read…

• The Simpsons: Trash of the Titans 8/10

  My blog The Simpsons – existential, circular fantasy 9/10 argued that that “The Simpsons” was the most sophisticated show on TV. Do you agree? Back…

• Save the date! Live reading by Robert Pimm in Vienna 15 June (& video)

  Franz Schubert steps to one side. The lights go down. Robert Pimm looks up at the packed crowd. ‘My name is Robert Pimm,’ he says.…

• Bitcoin, Bart Simpson, beards, whales and the vomiting camel

  The pattern is unmistakeable. A graph shows a financial trend-line (the price of gold) going up and down a couple of times, then declining more…

• Zum Schwarzen Kameel: Review

  No seats.  Outrageous spectacles.  An enigmatic, four hundred-year-old name.  What is it that makes “Zum Schwarzen Kameel” stand out? Zum Schwarzen Kameel (Bognergasse 5, 1st…

• The Death of Stalin (Review)

  Originally posted on Inconsistent Pacing: Do you remember the first time you watched Jaws, and you were really hyped up, but it was kind of…

• Aunts Aren’t Gentlemen – 10 Quotations

  Attentive readers will know that, Wodehouse-wise, I am a slow-burn fanatic. Since 2017 I have been relishing a mouth-watering shelf-full of Wodehouse in a hand-tooled…

• How to read “Blood Summit”

  Many people come to this site in order to read my thriller Blood Summit. Welcome! You can get hold of a copy of Blood Summit thus: (i) go…

• Stairway to Klimt 10/10

  The Klimt masterpieces have been seen only twice in the last 127 years. Yet they have been on show all the time. It makes some…

• When kissing in cafes is forbidden

  My famous Vienna Cafe Reviews note the alleged “no kissing” rule in the Cafe Malipop; and promise a story from 1986. Here it is.  It concerns…

• Robert Pimm: my first public reading – 16 March in Vienna

  Have you ever wondered what Robert Pimm looks like in person? Now you can find out. I will be performing my first public reading at…

• P G Wodehouse: 5 wondrous quotations from “Thank You, Jeeves”

  My blog How to read P G Wodehouse: a practical guide praised Plumtopia, a P G Wodehouse specialist, for its advice on precisely this subject.  I thoroughly recommend…

• “Blood Summit” Chapter 6: a mysterious Russian

  Here is the text of Chapter 6 of my Berlin thriller Blood Summit.   “Terrorist Uli Wenger meets a mysterious Russian.” Enjoy!  You can read the…

• “Blood Summit” on sale here

  The book fits right in, between Ian Fleming and John le Carré.  Good company. “Blood Summit” at Shakespeare & Co in Vienna It gave me…

• Austrian cafes: the truth about 1986

  My original Vienna Cafe Reviews story, published in March 2017, included a story about a customer having a bad experience trying to get the bill,…

• The Laughing Halibut

  ‘One of my favourite restaurants in London is the Laughing Halibut,’ I say as we eat our lunch in Vienna.  ‘When I first started eating…

• Austria unfriendly? I don’t think so

  I was bemused recently to see a news report headed: Austria ranked by expats as one of unfriendliest countries. I have lived in Austria for years…

• Blood Summit: the US President in the killing chair

  The US President, British Prime Minister, German Chancellor, Russian President and other G8 leaders are taken hostage by terrorists at a summit in Berlin. Rescue…

• The Overton window and social media manipulation: how worried should we be?

  I first came across the term “Overton Window” in a piece by John Lanchester in the London Review of Books in July 2016. He described…

• “Blood Summit” Chapter 5: Things get worse for Helen

  Here is the text of Chapter 5 of my Berlin thriller Blood Summit.   “In which Helen Gale gets into even more trouble.” The Reichstag dome.…

• 2017: 10 best blogs

  I shall not try to summarise 2017 (thank God, I hear you cry): every journalist on earth is doing that. Instead, I have chosen my…

• The Last Jedi 3/10: the galaxy’s most shagged-out designers?

  What a brilliant movie!  Full of breathtaking, blow-you-away moments, unpredictable plot-twists, and unforgettable images and ideas! I speak, of course, of the original 1977 Star…