The Armstrongs' A-Z Guide to Life

Fresh from our television screens, the wonderfully unique John and Ann Armstrong take us on a hilarious and completely original journey through some of life's most important lessons.

John and Ann Armstrong founded U-Fit, the third largest double glazing company in Coventry, in the mid-1990s having met when John, the then proprieter of a smaller double glazing firm, spotted Ann 'glowing' behind a desk at a rival business. It was an instant attraction and they were living with each other within the space of a week. They first came to the public's attention in December 2003 when they appeared in a fly-on-the-wall documentary programme about office christmas parties. They live together in Coventry with Ann's pet parrot Doofus.

Have you ever wondered how typewriters can rival commercial radio? Why, according to John, it's best to shave only once a week, and with old fashioned soap and water? And what the various repercussions of spring and its extra hour of daylight bring? 
 
The BBC created a fantastically cult television series when they filmed the daily operations of John and Ann's double glazing firm U-Fit, the third largest in Coventry. It was here we were first introduced to John's misanthropic musings and no-nonsense attitude to management and his wife Ann's doting loyalty. 
 
Now their individual and highly entertaining personalities have been brought to the page, as they ruminate on various aspects of life from asbos to Buddhism, and Chekov to Maltesers.

How to be Happy in an Imperfect World

Love, Life, Goethe

'Like Alain de Botton ... Armstrong has the confidence to write in a translucently intelligible and thoroughly graceful style.' The Sunday Times 'Lucid and engaging' Independent on Sunday

John Armstrong was born in Glasgow in 1966. Previously a research fellow and director of the Aesthetics Programme at the University of London, he is currently a research fellow in the philosophy of art at the University of Melbourne, Australia. He is author of Conditions of Love and The Secret Power of Beauty, both published by Penguin.

Is it possible to be truly happy? In an imperfect world, how can we live well with what we have, and accept what we don&rsquo;t have? 
 
In Love, Life, Goethe, John Armstrong looks at the life of the renowned yet often misunderstood writer Goethe to show the surprising ways in which we can learn from him, whether in love, suffering, friendship or family. He shows how relevant Goethe is to the way we live today, and how he wanted (much the same as us) to live life well. From work to our relationships to money and success, John Armstrong explores the main themes of our existence through Goethe, and helps us learn how to live.

A Treatise on Urine Therapy

The Water Of Life

Unique guide to the health benefits of urine therapy

As a young man during WW1, J W Armstrong was diagnosed as suffering from TB. Following two years of unsuccessful medical treatment, he started a course of urine therapy and was cured within two months. Following this success, he was encouraged to set up his own private practice and includes many of his patients' remarkable case studies in this book.

In this revolutionary treatise, J W Armstrong puts the compelling case that all diseases (except those caused by traumatism or structural disorders) can be cured by one simple means: urine therapy. The therapy is an entirely natural treatment, a drugless system of healing that treats the body as a whole. Moreover, the only ingredient needed is a substance manufactured in the body itself, rich in mineral salts, hormones and other vital substances, namely human urine. 
 
It may seem strange to take back into the body something that the body is apparently discarding. Yet the theory is similar to the natural practice of organic composting. Fallen leaves, when dug back into the soil, provide valuable mineral salts to nourish new plant life. The same principle holds true for the human body.

The Philosophy of Intimacy

Conditions of Love

"An elegant little book...perceptive and tender" 
- Evening Standard

John Armstrong is the author of THE INTIMATE PHILOSOPHY OF LOVE. A philosopher at the University of Melbourne

Raises one of the deepest and most puzzling questions we can put to ourselves ' What is Love?' 
 
Drawing on writers and thinkers as diverse as Plato, Tolstoy, Freud and Stendhal, John Armstrong explores how our perception of love is formed by culture and history. 
 
For anyone who believes or disbelieves in love.

John Armstrong

A passionate and often very personal defence of civilization's qualities

His style is fluent, his personality engaging, his wit sharp, his mind cultivated and his sensibilities keen

John Armstrong is a Good Thing . . . determined to return moral philosophy to the intercourse of ordinary people

Remaking a tarnished idea

What is civilization? 
Why do we need it? 
And what can civilization offer us in an age of irony? 
 
The idea of civilization is a complex one, tangled up for years in ideas of colonialism and politics. John Armstrong explores the nature and aims of civilization in this elegant and witty book, examining how civilizing forces from the Greeks to the Renaissance have shaped and coloured our ideas of what a Good existence means. Only by bringing conversations about civilization back into our everyday lives, Armstrong reveals, can we rediscover our chance for wisdom and happiness.

John Armstrong

Praise for In Search of Civilization

A passionate and often very personal defence of civilization's qualities

His style is fluent, his personality engaging, his wit sharp, his mind cultivated and his sensibilities keen

John Armstrong is a Good Thing . . . determined to return moral philosophy to the intercourse of ordinary people

A passionate and often very personal defence of civilization's qualities

His style is fluent, his personality engaging, his wit sharp, his mind cultivated and his sensibilities keen

John Armstrong is a Good Thing . . . determined to return moral philosophy to the intercourse of ordinary people

A passionate and often very personal defence of civilization's qualities

His style is fluent, his personality engaging, his wit sharp, his mind cultivated and his sensibilities keen

John Armstrong is a Good Thing . . . determined to return moral philosophy to the intercourse of ordinary people

Books by John Armstrong

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter