The Brentford Trilogy is a series of eight novels by writer Robert Rankin

Robert Rankin

Robert Fleming Rankin is a prolific British humorous novelist. Born in Parsons Green, London, he started writing in the late 1970s, and first entered the bestsellers lists with Snuff Fiction in 1999, by which time his previous eighteen books had sold around one million copies...

. They humorously chronicle the lives of a couple of drunken middle-aged layabouts, Jim Pooley

Jim Pooley

James Arbuthnot Pooley is a fictional character in The Brentford Trilogy written by fantasy/humour writer Robert Rankin. Jim tends to avoid regular employment, preferring to make his living by his wits and constantly seeking to make the perfect bet on racehorses that will give him all the wealth...

 and John Omally, who confront the forces of darkness in the environs of West London, usually with the assistance of large quantities of beer from their favourite public house, The Flying Swan.

• John Vincent Omally and Jim Pooley - an Irishman living in Brentford and his best friend.