Book of the Week: The Mortdecai Trilogy, by Kyril Bonfiglioli.
Originally published in the 1970s, I recently came across this courtesy the lovely and talented S. Picture Bertie Wooster meets Austin Powers, and you're half-way there; the capers are for the most part hilarious, although the author occasionally seems to set a dozen things juggling - chainsaws and silk scarves and live roosters - then end the novel by just walking away, leaving the mess behind.

Having met Jock, however, I do now want a thug of my very own.