A. J. Alan was the pseudonym of Leslie Harrison Lambert (1883-1941), an English magician, intelligence officer, short story writer, and radio broadcaster.

He was hugely popular in the '20s and '30s for his radio broadcasts, wherein he performed his own humorous and often macabre short stories, which he always delivered wearing full evening dress.

The First of April is a typical tale in which A. J. Alan is catapulted into a bizarre and unlikely adventure in the company of a mysterious and potentially dangerous adventuress.