Clara’s Verdict
There is a very specific kind of comedy that the British radio sitcom does better than almost any other form: the comedy of the utterly self-absorbed character who is nevertheless so particular and so warmly observed that you cannot help but love them. Damien Trench – BBC Radio 4’s pernickety food writer, brought to life by Miles Jupp in In and Out of the Kitchen – is a perfect specimen of the type. Egg and Soldiers is his memoir, and as an audiobook narrated by Jupp himself, it is one of the most purely pleasurable listens I have encountered in this genre.
About the Audiobook
Published by Headline in September 2017 and running at 6 hours and 13 minutes, Egg and Soldiers is presented as a childhood memoir by Damien Trench, food writer and protagonist of the Radio 4 sitcom, “as told to” Miles Jupp. The conceit is sustained beautifully: this is Damien looking back at his early life and the culinary and otherwise formative experiences that made him the man he is – a man who can end up buying a gas ring expander when he went out to look at tagines and find this genuinely unremarkable.
The book follows Damien’s childhood with characteristic digressions to the present day, where he and his long-suffering partner Anthony continue their complicated domestic arrangements. The humour is warm rather than cutting – Damien is ridiculous, but he is ridiculous in recognisable ways, and Jupp has given him an interior life that makes him sympathetic. The food writing embedded in the memoir is itself quite good, which is perhaps the book’s deepest joke: Damien’s observations about food are often genuinely perceptive, buried under layers of fussiness and self-importance.
The Narration
Jupp narrates in character as Damien throughout, and the performance is impeccable. If you know the radio series, you know exactly what you are getting – and you will note immediately that hearing Jupp deliver these lines in Damien’s voice is considerably funnier than reading them silently. The listener reviews repeatedly mention laughter. One reviewer says they were “crying with laughter.” The footnotes – yes, there are footnotes, and they are characteristically Damienesque – are handled with particular skill. At just over six hours, the timing is perfect: long enough to sink into the world, short enough to leave you wanting more.
What Readers Say
The audiobook carries a rating of 4.2 out of 5 from over 80 listeners. Rosie calls it “one of the funniest books I have ever read” and suggests it works even without prior knowledge of the characters. A dedicated fan of the radio series writes that it is “marvellous” and particularly highlights a footnote about museum cafes which, they note, covers “the problems with museum/art gallery cafes and gift shops in some detail” – the kind of comedic detail that is very much Damien’s territory. One listener who had not previously listened to the audio version notes that they “could clearly hear Damien’s voice” even when reading – which makes the audio version the definitive way to experience it.
Who Should Listen?
Essential for anyone who listened to and enjoyed In and Out of the Kitchen on Radio 4. But it is also a very easy recommendation for anyone who enjoys comedy that requires you to have a specific affection for a particular character – think Alan Partridge’s memoirs, or the comedy of Basil Fawlty’s inner monologue given space to breathe. It is gentle, precise, and genuinely funny. Ideal for a weekend afternoon or a commute when you want something that will reliably make you smile.
Listen on Audible UK – get your copy here.
