Fast cook Jamie Oliver becomes fast-seller

Jamie Oliver, the cheeky chef who first came to our attention way back in 1999, has just become the author of the UK's fastest-selling non-fiction book in recorded history.

Jamie's 30-Minute Meals has made its name off the back of its speedy recipes, aiming to help people prepare three-course meals in only half an hour.

There are 50 recipes in the book, ranging from Thai red prawn curry with cucumber salad and papaya for dessert to a spinach and feta pie with salad, followed by ice cream.

Sounds good, and in the two months that the book has been on sale more than 735,000 copies have been purchased - which works out to approximately 10,500 copies a day - with interest set to rise further thanks to Christmas being just around the corner. Given the short period of time the book has been on the market, Oliver's cooking guide also looks set to overtake the sales of Delia Smith's legendary How To Cook (Book 1), which has, by contrast, sold only a million-plus copies since 1998.

Makes you wonder, though. How much faster would the book have flown off shelves had it been called Jamie's 29-Minute Meals?