100,000+ Books, Games & Puzzles in-stock πŸ‡³πŸ‡Ώ

Thanks for supporting our 100% NZ-owned independent bookstore ❀️ Open Sat & Sun until 5pm

Killing Time

A Sunday Times Bestselling 'pitch-perfect' (Observer) treat for winter.
By Alan Bennett
0.0 (0 reviews)
3.49 goodreads logo

Ratings/reviews counts are updated frequently.

Check link for latest rating. ( 1,692 ratings, 237 reviews)
Brief Description
The Sunday Times Bestseller. Killing Time is a wonderful surprise gift from Alan Bennett - a new story, set in a home for the elderly; a glorious, darkly comic treat. 'A mini-masterpiece.' - The Times 'Full of wit and style.' - Observer 'A terrific cast of... Read More
Format: Hardback
$2300
Elsewhere:
$2499
OVERNIGHT NZ-WIDE DELIVERY

Found a better price? Request a price match

A wonderful surprise gift from Alan Bennett - a brand new story, set in a home for the elderly; a glorious, darkly comic treat.

A wonderful surprise gift from Alan Bennett - a brand new story, set in a home for the elderly; a glorious, darkly comic treat.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

The Sunday Times Bestseller.

Killing Time is a wonderful surprise gift from Alan Bennett - a new story, set in a home for the elderly; a glorious, darkly comic treat.

'A mini-masterpiece.' - The Times
'Full of wit and style.' - Observer
'A terrific cast of characters, and secrets and chaos aplenty.' - iNews
'A geriatric Lord of the Flies.' - Spectator

We have a choir and on special occasions a glass of dry sherry. It's less of a home and more of a club and very much a community.

Presided over by the lofty Mrs McBryde, Hill Topp House is a superior council home for the elderly. Among the unforgettable cast of staff and residents there's Mr Peckover the deluded archaeologist, Phyllis the knitter, Mr Cresswell the ex-cruise ship hairdresser, the enterprising Mrs Foss and Mr Jimson the chiropodist. Covid is the cause of fatalities and the source of darkly comic confusion, but it's also the key to liberation. As staff are hospitalised, protocol breaks down. Miss Rathbone reveals a lifelong secret, and the surviving residents seize their moment, arthritis allowing, to scamper freely in the warmth of the summer sun.

'Violet? She'll be having a little lie-down,' said Mrs McBryde. 'She likes to give her pacemaker a rest. I'll rout her out.'

Killing Time was a Sunday Times bestseller from the week ending 09/11/2024 to the week ending 28/12/2024.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780571394814

Publisher: Faber & Faber

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 07 November 2024

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Faber & Faber

Edition: Main

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 129.0mm

Height: 168.0mm

Weight: 250g

Pages: 112

Collections

Alan Bennett Best Sellers at Book Hero Fiction General Fiction Humour In Stock Books In-Stock Fiction Books Literary Fiction New Release Fiction New Zealand's Best Selling Books

About the Author

ALAN BENNETT's works for stage and screen include Talking Heads, Forty Years On, The Lady in the Van, A Question of Attribution, The Madness of George III, an adaptation of The Wind in the Willows, The History Boys, The Habit of Art, People, Hymn, Cocktail Sticks, Two Besides and Allelujah! His collections of prose are Writing Home, Untold Stories (PEN/Ackerley Prize, 2006), Keeping On Keeping On and House Arrest. His fiction includes The Uncommon Reader and Smut: Two Unseemly Stories.

Also by Alan Bennett

View all
  • On Sale
    18% off
    Keeping On Keeping On
    Keeping On Keeping On is an illustrious addition to Alan Bennett's celebrated chronicles, capturing his diaries from 2005 to 2015. This captivating volume offers readers an intimate glimpse into the mind and work of one of Britain's most revered writers. With an uncanny ability to blend humour and poignancy, Bennett reflects on a decade rich in creativity and personal introspection....
    By Alan Bennett
    Paperback
    $2700
    Usually:
    $3299
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • House Arrest
    4 March. HMQ pictured in the paper at an investiture wearing gloves, presumably as a precaution against Coronavirus. But not just gloves; these are almost gauntlets. I hope they're not the thin end of a precautionary wedge lest Her Majesty end up swathed in protective get-up such as is worn at the average crime scene. 20 March. With Rupert now...
    By Alan Bennett
    Hardback
    $2300
    Elsewhere:
    $2499
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Untold Stories
    The paperback of Untold Stories contains new unpublished diaries, as well as a poignant memoir of his family and of growing up in Leeds, together with his much celebrated diary for the years 1996-2004, and numerous other exceptional essays, reviews, and comic pieces. Since the success of Beyond the Fringe in the 1960s, Alan Bennett has delighted audiences worldwide with...
    By Alan Bennett
    Paperback
    $3699
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • The Uncommon Reader
    What would happen if the Queen became a reader of taste and discernment rather than of Dick Francis? The answer is a perfect story. The Uncommon Reader is none other than HM the Queen, who drifts accidentally into reading when her corgis stray into a mobile library parked at Buckingham Palace. She reads widely (JR Ackerley, Jean Genet, Ivy Compton...
    By Alan Bennett
    Paperback
    $2499
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • The Shielding of Mrs Forbes
    Thinking Betty was in the bath Graham was watching a late-night programme on Channel 4 called 'Footballers with Their Shirts Off' when she unexpectedly came in on the trail of the hairdryer. 'I didn't know you were interested in football,' said Betty. No one must ever find out that Graham is 'not the marrying sort'. Certainly not his wife, or...
    By Alan Bennett
    Paperback
    $1699
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Enough Said
    20 September. Have a notion for a radio series - Awkward Conversations. Enough Said is Alan Bennett's fourth collection of diaries and prose. Covering the turbulent years 2016 to 2024, the diaries take us through lockdown, Brexit, the reign of Johnson, the rise of Trump and the death of the Queen. In between, we take the train with him back...
    By Alan Bennett
    Hardback
    $5399
    Elsewhere:
    $6500
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Killing Time
    We have a choir and on special occasions a glass of dry sherry. It's less of a home and more of a club and very much a community.Presided over by the lofty Mrs McBryde, Hill Topp House is a superior council home for the elderly. Among the unforgettable cast of staff and residents there's Mr Peckover the deluded archaeologist, Phyllis...
    By Alan Bennett
    Paperback
    $2499
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • The Uncommon Reader
    From one of England's most celebrated writers, a funny and superbly observed novella about the Queen of England and the subversive power of reading. When her corgis stray into a mobile library parked near Buckingham Palace, the Queen feels duty-bound to borrow a book. Discovering the joy of reading widely (from J. R. Ackerley, Jean Genet, and Ivy Compton-Burnett to...
    By Alan Bennett
    Paperback
    $4800
    Available
    Ships in 2-3 weeks
  • The Wind in the Willows
    Ever since the publication of Kenneth Grahame's novel in 1908, the characters of Ratty, Mole, Toad and Badger have delighted generations of readers. Now Alan Bennett has written an adaptation for the stage, a version which is true to the original and yet carries the distinctive Bennett hallmark. Alan Bennett introduces this edition, writing about the history of the project...
    By Alan Bennett
    Paperback
    $2799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Two Besides
    The gorgeous, pocket-sized edition of the two brand-new Talking Heads. 'Given the opportunity to revisit the characters from Talking Heads, I've added a couple more, both of them ordinary women whom life takes by surprise. They just about end up on top and go on, but without quite knowing how. Still, they're in good company, and at least they've made...
    By Alan Bennett
    Hardback
    $2799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Six Poets: Hardy to Larkin
    Writers like to elude their public, lead them a bit of a dance. They take them down untrodden paths, land them in unknown country where they have to ask for directions. In this personal anthology, Alan Bennett has chosen over seventy poems by six well-loved poets, discussing the writers and their verse in his customary conversational style through anecdote, shrewd...
    By Alan Bennett
    Paperback
    $2799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • The Choral
    The Choral
    You don't have to believe it. I always took the Matthew Passion with a pinch of salt. Ramsden, Yorkshire, 1916. The ambitious local Choral Society is depleted as men volunteer for the front, and plans for their St Matthew Passion by German composer J. S. Bach are scuppered by patriotic fervour. Dr Guthrie, the mysterious, exacting new Chorus Master, finds...
    By Alan Bennett
    Hardback
    $2999
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks

More from General Fiction

View all
  • The Wedding People
    'BEST READ OF THE YEAR SO FAR' THE TIMES 'BOOKS AS FUN AS THIS ONE ARE FEW AND FAR BETWEEN' GUARDIAN Phoebe Stone arrives at a grand beachside hotel in Rhode Island wearing her best dress and least comfortable shoes. Immediately she is mistaken for one of the wedding people β€” but she's actually the only guest at the Cornwall...
    By Alison Espach
    Paperback
    $2399
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    (3)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Throne of Glass Box Set (Paperback)
    Enter the realm. Unleash the darkness. Live the legend. Discover the worldwide phenomenon of the #1 New York Times-bestselling Throne of Glass series in this gorgeous 8-book box set! In a land without magic, an assassin is summoned to the castle. She has no love for the vicious king who rules from his throne of glass, but she has not...
    By Sarah J. Maas
    Set
    $12400
    Elsewhere:
    $15500
    (6)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • The Goal
    Welcome to Briar U!Get ready for your newest obsession . . . Discover the addictive world of the Off-Campus series from The Queen of Hockey Romance, Elle Kennedy!Read The Goal now for the perfect forced proximity romance! She's good at achieving her goals . . . College senior Sabrina James has her whole future planned out: graduate from college, kick...
    By Elle Kennedy
    Paperback
    $2499
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Lizzy's Pick Lizzy's Pick
    Yesteryear
    A BOLD AND BITING SATIRE. WILL HAVE YOU GASPING TO THE FINAL PAGE β€” Nita Prose WICKEDLY FUNNY, BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN AND FRIGHTENINGLY PERCEPTIVE β€” Abigail Dean INVENTIVE, ADDICTIVE, A WILD RIDE β€” Ashley Audrain SHOT THROUGH WITH HUMOUR AND LACED WITH DARKNESS β€” Clare Mackintosh The Stepford Wives meets The Handmaid's Tale β€” Hannah Deitch My name was Natalie Heller...
    By Caro Claire Burke
    Paperback
    $2999
    Elsewhere:
    $3699
    (2)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • The Score
    Welcome to Briar U! Get ready for your newest obsession... Discover the addictive world of the Off-Campus series from The Queen of Hockey Romance, Elle Kennedy! Read The Score now for the perfect friends with benefits romance! He knows how to score, on and off the ice... Allie Hayes is in crisis mode. With graduation looming, she still doesn't have...
    By Elle Kennedy
    Paperback
    $2499
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • New Release
    The Ballad of Falling Dragons [Special Deluxe edition]
    The No.1 Sunday Times bestselling sensation When the Moon Hatched continues with the second book in The Moonfall Series, The Ballad of Falling Dragons… Raeve’s thirst for vengeance continues to burn, as does her love for Kaan Vaegor – a staunch beacon from a past she’s yet to face. With Rekk’s blood still fresh on her hands, she learns the...
    By Sarah A. Parker
    Hardback
    $5999
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Dylan's Pick Dylan's Pick
    Theo of Golden
    THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING PHENOMENON'For anything to be truly good, there must be love in it. Nothing is what it's supposed to be if love is not at the core.' One morning, a stranger arrives in the town of Golden. No one knows who he is or where he came from…His name is Theo and he's arrived there by chance –...
    By Allen Levi
    Paperback
    $2899
    Elsewhere:
    $3499
    (5)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Golden Son
    ENDER'S GAME meets THE HUNGER GAMES in this, the second in an extraordinary trilogy from an incredible new voice.'I'm still playing games. This is just the deadliest yet.' Darrow is a rebel forged by tragedy. For years he and his fellow Reds worked the mines, toiling to make the surface of Mars inhabitable. They were, they believed, mankind's last hope....
    By Pierce Brown
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • The Mistake
    Welcome to Briar U! Get ready for your newest obsession . . . Discover the addictive world of the Off-Campus series from The Queen of Hockey Romance, Elle Kennedy! Read The Mistake now for the perfect second chance romance! He's a player in more ways than one . . . College junior John Logan can get any girl he wants....
    By Elle Kennedy
    Paperback
    $2499
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Carl's Doomsday Scenario
    Join Carl and his ex-girlfriend's cat Princess Donut as they fight fantastical creatures and deadly mobs in the second book in the smash-hit Dungeon Crawler Carl series -now with bonus material exclusive to the print edition Now on the third floor, Carl and Donut have to fight harder than ever. They've already proven that a Coast Guard vet and once-and-forever...
    By Matt Dinniman
    Hardback
    $4699
    Elsewhere:
    $6000
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Project Hail Mary
    Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, the SUNDAY TIMES and NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author of The Martian, offers a gripping new adventure in hard science fiction. With endorsement from notable figures such as Barack Obama and a slew of five-star reviews, this novel promises a thrilling and intellectually stimulating journey. Ryland Grace, a lone astronaut, finds himself on a...
    By Andy Weir
    Paperback
    $2399
    Elsewhere:
    $2400
    (4)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • New Release
    On Mystic Lake
    One of the greatest storytellers of our time - Delia Owens, author of Where the Crawdads Sing Annie Colwater's only child has just left home for school in England. On that same day, her husband of twenty years confesses that he's in love with a younger woman. Left alone in the beautiful California house which was once a home, Annie...
    By Kristin Hannah
    Paperback
    $3100
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    In Stock
    Ships Monday

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.

General Fiction lists from the team

Explore our curated lists from our heroes to find your next read!

The Latest at Book Hero

View all