Katie Carr is a good person; she's a doctor, after all. Plus she puts up with "the Angriest Man in Holloway", her husband David. But when David suddenly gets Good - real give-their-money-away, take-in-the-homeless good - her reserves of kindness (not to mention patience) run dry.

Who wants to be good and miserable? It's not as if she feels any better about herself. In fact, as David's acts of benevolence become more profound, Katie finds she has a decision to make: if charity really does begin at home, then maybe it's time to move .

A rich, hilarious, biting satire on what it means to be a good person, 'How To Be Good' underlines Nick Hornby's position as the premier chronicler of our obsessions and our times.