The "strong" shortlist of authors contending for the Wodehouse prize for comic fiction has been revealed.

The shortlist of authors contending for this year's Wodehouse prize for comic fiction has been revealed, and judges say the competition is stronger than ever before. The likes of Howard Jacobson and Michael Frayn will be competing for this year's award.

"This is one of the strongest shortlists I have seen," said judge and Everyman's Library publisher David Campbell. "All five novels are truly brilliantly funny." Notably absent from the list of finalists this year was perennial British prize-winner Hilary Mantel.

Frayn has been nominated for his novel "Skios", which the judges describe as "something Wodehouse might have written if Blandings Castle had been perched at the edge of the Aegean."

Howard Jacobson is also a strong contender, with his novel "Zoo Time". Joseph Connolly is shortlisted for "England's Lane", which is about the lives of three married couples in the winter of 1959. Another author to make it to the final shortlist is Deborah Moggach for "Heartbreak Hotel", in which Russell "Buffy" Buffery sets up the money-making wheeze "Courses for Divorces". Helen DeWitt is the fifth author on the list for "Lightning Rods", which follows a failing salesman's plans to stamp out sexual harassment at work.

The winner of the prize will be announced in late May, and as is traditional, will be presented with a locally-bred Gloucestershire Old Spot pig named after the winning title.