The Management Style of the Supreme Beings by Tom Holt

 

Sara enjoyed this and her description of it sounded kinda up my alley, so I decided to read it before it ended up being returned to the library. I'm really glad I did, it's a very English funny novel, strong whiffs of Adams and Pratchett (and probably Osman, though that's maybe less an influence than a contemporary) but also some of Moore, a wacked-out premise followed through to its illogical conclusion. What if being a deity was something like a business, and what if YHWH decided to sell Earth to the most corporate deities imaginable? What if Santa Claus saved the day? Moments of laugh-out-loud funny wrapped around an actually interesting story, characters that feel distinct even if they're completely impossible (though strangely not implausible on the page). Remarkably warm for a novel that has such satirical angles--though I dunno if it's exactly satire, or aimed at it.