This is Spectator Radio and you're listening to The Books Podcast with Sam Leith.

Hello and welcome to The Spectator's Books podcast. I'm Sam Leith, the literary editor for The Spectator.

And this week I'm joined by Ben Schott, who will be known to very many of you through Schott's

miscellany, his hugely successful Christmas miscellany, much imitated of random, interesting

facts, which was a huge, huge splash back then. But he's come here now with his first novel,

which is called Jeeves and the King of Clubs and is a, I don't know whether you'd call it a tribute or a continuation or a...

So it's a Jeeves and Worcester novel. Anyway, Ben, welcome.

Thank you very much.

The obvious question is, what the hell were you thinking of?

I think about that pretty much every day.

Yeah, writing a authorised continuation of the Jeeves and Worcester novels is, I mean, these are patent leather footsteps in which to follow.

I mean, really, he is the master.

So, yeah, what am I thinking of?

All I can tell you is, it was the most fun I've ever had with words.

And how did it sort of start?

I know the spectator has a little bit of a role in this.

Well, actually, you are partly to blame, but the real culprit is Donald Trump.

In inevitably, all conversations must return at some stage to Donald Trump, so we're doing it early.

In 2016, you will recall when he was a candidate, there was a new story that came out in the New York Times that his former butler, who looks a bit like Colonel Sanders,

said on Facebook or suggested on Facebook that President Obama should be assassinated,

which is not only unpleasant, but also technically a federal crime to call for the assassination of a

sitting...

...