[1] It was serialised as The Intrusions of Jimmy in the British weekly magazine Tit-Bits between 11 June and 10 September[2] before being published as A Gentleman of Leisure by Alston Rivers Ltd, London, on 15 November 1910.

The action begins with bachelor Jimmy Pitt in New York; having fallen in love on a transatlantic liner, he befriends a small-time burglar and breaks into a police captain's house as a result of a bet.

The cast of characters head to England, and from there on it is a typically Wodehousean romantic story, set at the stately Dreever Castle, overflowing with imposters, detectives, crooks, scheming lovers and conniving aunts.

Sir James Willoughby Pitt, baronet, a former jewel thief who was expelled from Eton and has since inherited wealth, is in London and bored with life.

Spennie invites Jimmy to his home, Corven Abbey in Shropshire (Dreever Castle in the later version), and he decides to take Spike with him as his valet.

They pick a house recommended to Mullins by a friend, and break in, only to be caught by John McEachern, whom they convince that Pitt is a prominent London jewel thief.

Her father is highly suspicious of Jimmy, even more so when he sees Spike also on the premises, but is unable to denounce them for fear of his own secret coming out, so he hires a detective to keep an eye on them.

Pitt makes an enemy of Hargate, a hustler he recognises trying to fleece Spennie, while Spike spots the detectives hired by McEachern and Blunt around the house.

Meanwhile, Spennie is once more sharped by the hustler, who asks him to drive Pitt from the castle, and Spike, after observing Sir Thomas' detective arrest Galer, the man hired by McEachern, takes advantage of the lull in vigilance to swipe the precious necklace.

Pitt helps him clear his name, and explains to McEachern the background to the similar mix-up that chilled relations between the two of them, offering Arthur Mifflin, now in London with a new play, as witness to the bet which started it all.

[9] The play was revived at McVicker's Theatre in Chicago on 30 March 1913 under the title A Thief for a Night with John Barrymore and Alice Brady in the lead roles.

[10] When the UK edition of A Gentleman of Leisure was reissued in March 1921, Wodehouse replaced an earlier dedication with one to Douglas Fairbanks "who many years ago played 'Jimmy' in the dramatised version of this novel".