Martyrs to hypochondria and general seediness, J. and his friends, George and Harris, decide that a jaunt up the Thames would suit them to a T. But when they set off, they can hardly predict the troubles that lie ahead. Three Men in a Boat was an instant success when it appeared in 1889, and, with its benign escapism, authorial discursions and wonderful evocation of the late-Victorian clerking classes, it hilariously captured the spirit of its age.