You could say Richard Osman is the host with the most. The Essex native first made his mark as a TV presenter on BBC staples such as Pointless, Two Tribes, and his own Richard Osman’s House of Games. He later launched the hit podcast The Rest Is Entertainment, which he co-hosts with Marina Hyde. Known for his attention to detail and knack for drawing in guests, Osman brings that same flair to his Thursday Murder Club series—cozy whodunits set in a retirement community and packed with enough twists to keep readers hooked through five installments (though the real mystery is how he manages it all!). The first book is now getting the Hollywood treatment, with Pierce Brosnan, Helen Mirren, Ben Kingsley, and Celia Imrie leading the cast. To celebrate the film’s release, Osman shares his key components to the good life. —Carolina de Armas
Airline: Anything with legroom and peanuts.
Airport: Reykjavík.
Alibi: If you have an identical twin, you can pretty much do anything you like. Steal anything. Murder anyone. Identical triplets are even better.
App: Balatro. Don’t even look it up—you won’t get any work done for the next year.
Bag: I wish I understood things like bags. Sometimes I’ll look at a bag on Air Mail and try to appreciate what I’m seeing, but it passes me by. Which means at least I get to save $1,499 every now and again.
Birthday: I turned 50 during the coronavirus, which means I’ve never officially turned 50, and never will.
Breakfast, weekday: A hotel’s self-serve buffet. Hotel breakfasts with an à la carte menu are the world’s greatest disappointment.
Child: Kind, curious, and self-funding.
Cocktail: Margaritas always get a party started.
Cocktail appetizerS: Skips. Wotsits. Frazzles.
Couple: Two people who both think they’re punching above their weight.
Date: Something palindromic like 12/11/21.
Dress: My wife is always incredible at finding the perfect dress. So I would say either her white one, or the red one she wore at the Thursday Murder Club premiere.
Drive: One day we plan to drive the breadth of the United States, visiting all of America’s most beautiful bookstores along the way.
Enemy: Anyone against whom I hold a very long-term, very minor grudge.
Escape: Helicopter from the roof, clinging to the bottom as it takes off and the bad guys shoot at you and miss like the meatheaded idiots they are.
Excuse: “I’m writing.”
First Man: Glen Powell will look amazing on the arm of a president one day.
Flaw: Anything you’ve got. We like people for their strengths; we fall in love with them for their flaws.
Friend: Loyal, forgiving, and good at pool.
Good-bye: A small salute across a crowded room.
Hideaway: A cottage in the New Forest.
Hotel: Six Senses Zighy Bay, in Oman.
Indulgence: Non-American chocolate. Sorry.
Insult: “You Hershey’s-eating m*****f*****.”
Last Meal: Bottomless brunch.
Match: Fulham (4) vs. Juventus (1) at the Europa League in 2010.
Movie: This Is Spinal Tap.
Name: I once wrote a character called Geoff Gough, and I have always regretted killing him off.
Nonfiction book: The Wager, by David Grann.
Novel: The Talented Mr. Ripley, by Patricia Highsmith, or A Month in the Country, by J. L. Carr. Don’t make me choose between them.
Pair of shoes: Whatever you have in a size 15.
PetS: Our cats, Liesl and Lottie. One elegant and calm, the other a hot mess. Both adored.
Piece of advice: My granddad, a cop, once told me, “If you’re ever called to a fight in a pub, make sure you’re second through the door.”
President: Whoever Glen Powell is married to in 2036.
Restaurant: Gymkhana or Scott’s, in London.
Singer: Dolly Parton. You can bung in Kenny Rogers or Johnny Cash while you’re there.
Television series: Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
Toast: “This too shall pass.”
Vacation: Italy. Pick a city. Pick a coast. It will never let you down.
Wake-up time: The New York Times Spelling Bee drops at 8:00 A.M. London time, so that’s always my target.
Work of art: L. S. Lowry’s Going to the Match.
Richard’s Essentials
