NEW YORK (AFP) - HBO has ordered a fifth season of its hit comedy Girls, the premium cable TV channel confirmed on Tuesday, delighting its creator Lena Dunham.

"And now we get to do this job for another year? Pinch me," Dunham told her 1.95 million followers on Twitter, after the network announced late Monday it would keep the show going.

Season four premieres in the United States on Sunday - the same day as the Golden Globe awards, where it's up for best TV comedy series and, for Dunham, best actress in a comedy series.

Inspired by some of Dunham's own experiences, the sitcom tracks the adventures and misadventures of a group of twentysomething female friends in New York's achingly hip borough of Brooklyn.

News of a fifth season follows on the success of 28-year-old Dunham's first book Not That Kind Of Girl, a collection of essays that remains high in the New York Times bestseller list.