Top 100 Classic Books William Wilkie Collins was an English novelist, playwright, and short story writer. The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices tells the story of sightseeing trip to Cumberland of Charles Dickens and his friend, the rising star of literature, Wilkie Collins. Through their fictional counterparts, they relentlessly satirize. Dickens" maniacal energy and Collins" idleness. The result is an exuberant diary of a journey and a rare insight into one of literature"s most famed and intriguing friendships.