History Literature / Incompetence

* FiringOneHanded: Averted. The only time Harry gets a gun, he needs both hands to keep his aim steady. Although, the implication is that said gun is a HandCannon.
* GenreSavvy: Harry has devised ways of using the CrapsackWorld to his advantage.

* ImAHumanitarian: 'Mission Man Broth.

Set TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture, it takes place in The United States Of Europe, where [[PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad political correctness]] has reached [[DystopianEdict Dystopian Edict]] levels, and laws have been passed that forbid the discrimination of people based on race, class, gender, creed or competence. Thus, a society has been born where ''everyone'' is bad at their job because employers aren't allowed to use someone's ''actual ability to do the job'' as a reason to hire/fire someone. Most shoes are made of vegetable matter, a hotel room will only have furniture in it if you're lucky (and be completely non-existent if you're not), and signposts rarely agree with each other, let alone point the correct way. As added joke, one can track how many originally absurd rules from book were actually realised by European Union between publishing and present.

* AndNowForSomethingCompletelyDifferent: The entire book is told in first person by Harry, except for two chapters. One is the USE's version of the Miranda Rights (with a dumbed down version), the other is a Euronews broadcast where German police [[MoreDakka shoot up a car]] with an [[NoKillLikeOverkill already dead man behind the wheel]] before launching a rocket at it.....[[ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy and completely missing, instead destroying a nearby tanning factory.]]

* BOOMHeadshot: Subverted. Harry [[spoiler: shoots Klingferm in the head, but he appears to survive it. Mostly]]
* BrokenPedestal: [[spoiler:Klingferm]].
* [[CIAEvilFBIGood CIA Evil Europol Good]]: [[spoiler: Klingferm is a CIA agent trying to subvert Europe.]] Europol is basically the TransatlanticEquivalent to the FBI and, though we only see one agent, he's essentially not a bad guy and is only doing his job.

* ChalkOutline: At the scene of a nasty accident, Harry sees a cop drawing chalk outlines around everything, including an eyeball that had got thrown from the wreckage. He gives it a {{lampshade}}.

* DangerouslyGenreSavvy: [[spoiler: Klingferm, until the end.]]

* LittleUselessGun: Wolfie's Derringer. Harry reckons it's only good for an [[EyeScream eye shot]] at point blank range. Given Wolfie's sadistic nature, that's probably what he did use it for.

* NoKillLikeOverkill: The German police in the Euronews chapter. Also Superintendant Debary of the Food Crimes squad, who goes to restaurant inspections armed to the teeth.

* ShoutOut: Harry Salt and Harry Tequila are names Harry chooses when drinking Tequila with Klingferm after he finishes his training. Klingferm advises him not to pick the name [[Film/TheThirdMan Harry Lime]]. Doubles as {{Foreshadowing}}, as Klingferm [[spoiler: is really the BigBad who fakes his own death.]]

* SuperIdentikit: Averted. Harry gets identikitted and the image is shown on Euronews. Luckily, it looks more like [[PlanetOfTheApes Dr Zaius]] than Harry.
* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: Superindendant Debary, who slept with all three daughters of a restaurant owner separately and all together (he even has written consent). [[SarcasmMode The fact that he was giving said restaurant a clean bill of health had nothing to do with it]].
* TheDragon: Wolfie.

Set TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture, it takes place in The United States Of Europe, where [[PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad political correctness]] has reached its logical conclusion, and laws have been passed that forbid the discrimination of people based on race, class, gender, creed or competence. Thus, a society has been born where ''everyone'' is bad at their job because employers aren't allowed to use someone's ''actual ability to do the job'' as a reason to hire/fire someone. Most shoes are made of vegetable matter, a hotel room will only have furniture in it if you're lucky (and be completely non-existent if you're not), and signposts rarely agree with each other, let alone point the correct way. As added joke, one can track how many originally absurd rules from book were actually realised by European Union between publishing and present.

%% * CrapsackWorld

%% * NoOSHACompliance

* VomitIndiscretionShot: The entire dinner party incident is an extended version.

* MythologyGag: Harry states that Zuccho makes Captain Bligh look like a management genius. Oslo used the same insult on Captain Gwent in ''{{Colony}}''.

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* ImpersonatingAnOfficer: Harry's IDs are basically this. They're all fully traceable and have legitimate service records. His Harry Pepper ID gets deactivated without his prior knowledge and it gets him arrested by Europol.

* BlatantLies: The RabidCop claiming the man they blew up with a rocket launcher was brandishing a machine gun and shouting threats. He was actually already dead.

* BlatantLies: The police claiming the man they blew up with a rocket launcher was brandishing a machine gun and shouting threats. He was actually already dead.

* PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad: Article 13199 of the Pan-European constitution states that no person may be excluded from any employment on the grounds of age, race, creed or incompetence. This leads to people holding jobs that they are entirely unsuitable for, such as airline pilots with vertigo, police officers who are either TooDumbToLive or fall under the RabidCop category an old man holding a job as a PlayboyBunny.

%% * PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad

%% * {{Eagleland}}

%% * ForInconveniencePressOne: Every time Harry attempts to use the phone system in the Belize Hotel in Rome, he winds up being transferred to the restaurant. Including whenever the restaurant manager attempts to transfer him elsewhere.

%% * ForInconveniencePressOne

--> Bad is the new good.

''{{Incompetence}}'' is a BlackComedy novel by Rob Grant (of ''Series/RedDwarf'' fame).