The complete memoirs of a man of many talents and faces - the late, great Spike Milligan - affectionately recounted by his close friend and agent for 35 years, Norma Farnes.
After chancing on an advert for a secretarial position, Norma Farnes found herself initiated into the world of No. 9 Orme Court - a hub of writing and creativity for many postwar entertainment names. Soon promoted to be Milligan's agent, Norma was working for a man with a celebrated reputation for brilliance and difficulty in equal measure.
Much-loved for many decades, Milligan was often heralded as creative and "zany" but the truth went much deeper. He could be endearing, despicable, loyal, traitorous, challenging, inspirational, frenetic . . . sometimes all of these things in a single day, but never boring.
In these affectionate and truth memoirs of 35 years as agent, close friend and sometime-foe, Norma Farnes portrays Spike Milligan in all his guises. Through a great many personal anecdotes she reveals Spike's extraordinary sense of humour, his ongoing battle with a restless mind, his remarkable, lifelong friendships with Peter Sellers and Eric Sykes, his relationship with his family and the industry, and his heartening struggles with society at large.
In this book, Norma Farnes has captured a comprehensive and moving portrait of this truly extraordinary man of many talents and faces, and her greatest friend.