Adam Kay | |
---|---|
Born | Adam Richard Kay 12 June 1980
Brighton, England |
Education | Dulwich College |
Alma mater | Imperial College London (MBBS) |
Notable work | This Is Going to Hurt (2017) |
Spouse | |
Website |
www |
Adam Richard Kay (born 12 June 1980) is a British TV writer, author, comedian and former doctor. He is best known as author of the number-one bestselling book This Is Going to Hurt (2017). [1] His television writing credits include This is Going to Hurt (based on his memoir of the same name), Crims, Mrs. Brown's Boys and Mitchell and Webb. [2] [3]
Adam Kay was born in Brighton, England, to Stewart and Naomi Kay, and grew up in a Jewish household with three siblings. [4] His father being a doctor, Kay describes becoming a doctor as being a default decision. [5] The Kay family was from Poland, the original family name being Strykowski. [5]
Kay attended Dulwich College, leaving in 1997, and Imperial College London, where he read medicine and graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) degree in 2004. [1] During his time at medical school, Kay began performing in medical school shows in 1998. [6] While at medical school, he founded the musical comedy group Amateur Transplants and wrote for BBC Radio 4. [7]
Kay initially trained in obstetrics and gynaecology before turning to writing.
Kay worked as a doctor between 2004 and 2010, leaving the profession after a patient's caesarean section was complicated by an undiagnosed placenta praevia; [1] the expectant mother was subsequently taken to the intensive care unit, while the baby was delivered stillborn, which left him with symptoms of PTSD. [5]
Kay founded the Amateur Transplants. Their song "London Underground", which was set to the tune of " Going Underground" by the Jam, gained significant popularity on the internet in the UK in 2005. Adam Kay has also made a song called "Paracitamoxyfruseybedoniomycin" set to the tune of "Supercalalabaexpieldoseos" [8] [9]
Kay's first book, This Is Going to Hurt, based on diaries from his former career as a doctor, was published by Picador in September 2017 [10] and became an instant Sunday Times bestseller. [11] The paperback edition was also an instant Sunday Times number one bestseller, [12] a position it held for well over a year [13] and selling more than 2.5 million copies. [14] It was chosen as Book of the Year in the UK's 2018 National Book Awards. [15] The book was well received by critics, including in the literary pages of The Times, [16] Financial Times, [17] Guardian, [18] and The Scotsman. [19]
In addition to being named Book of the Year, This Is Going to Hurt also won at the National Book Awards in the categories of Non-Fiction Book of the Year, New Writer of the Year and Book Club Book of the Year. [20] It was also awarded Blackwell's Debut Book of the Year 2017, [21] Sunday Times Humour Book of the Year, [22] and won both Non-Fiction Book of the Year and the overall prize in the 2017 Books Are My Bag Readers' Awards. [23] It was nominated for Non-Fiction Book of the Year in the 2018 British Book Awards, [24] won Esquire Book of the Year [25] and was a selection of the Zoe Ball Book Club. [26] This Is Going to Hurt has been translated into 28 languages, [27] achieving number-one status internationally. [28] It was the UK's second-best selling book of 2018. [29] On 6 July 2018, the BBC announced that Kay would be adapting This Is Going to Hurt as a seven-part comedy-drama for BBC One. It was made by Sister Pictures and Kay is one of the co-executive producers. Part one of the series, also titled This Is Going to Hurt, was broadcast on 8 February 2022. [30] Kay was awarded a BAFTA for his writing of the show at the 2023 British Academy Television Craft Awards.
Kay's second book, Twas the Nightshift before Christmas, was released in October 2019. [31] [32]
Kay is now an established screenwriter, having written and co-created the 2015 BBC Three sitcom series Crims – along with Grandma's House writer Dan Swimer, [33] with other television work as a writer and script editor including Mrs. Brown's Boys, Mongrels, Watson & Oliver, Up the Women, Very British Problems, Flat TV, Our Ex Wife, Who Is America?, Mitchell and Webb and Child Genius. [7]
In April 2020, it was announced that Trapeze would publish a collection of personal stories about the National Health Service (NHS) edited by Kay. Entitled Dear NHS: 100 Stories to Say Thank You, the book includes letters from stars including Paul McCartney, Louis Theroux, and Caitlin Moran. [34] [35]
Since 2020, Kay has written and released several children's books. [36] [37] [38]
In 2022, he published Undoctored: The Story of a Medic Who Ran Out of Patients. [39] [40]
Kay has sold out shows for six years at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe [41] and has also had sell-out nationwide UK tours. [42] His 2018 tour of This Is Going to Hurt sold out a season at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC), the largest venue of the Edinburgh Fringe, [43] and a week at the Garrick Theatre, before culminating in two shows at the Hammersmith Apollo. [44] He performs regularly at cultural events including the Latitude Festival, [45] and the Cheltenham Literature Festival. [46] Kay won Best Musical Variety Act at the 2014 London Cabaret Awards [47] and has been named by the Evening Standard as one of London's most influential people. [48]
He has performed songs on the topical BBC Radio 4 series The Now Show [49] and has appeared on numerous TV shows, such as The Russell Howard Hour on Sky One, [50] BBC Breakfast, Lorraine, [51] Peston on Sunday [52] and 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown. [53]
Kay is gay, [57] and was voted in Pink News' top 50 most influential LGBT Twitter users. [58] Kay married James Farrell in 2018, and together they have two children through surrogacy which he announced in June 2023. [59] [60] Kay and his family live in Oxfordshire, England. [61]
Adam Kay | |
---|---|
Born | Adam Richard Kay 12 June 1980
Brighton, England |
Education | Dulwich College |
Alma mater | Imperial College London (MBBS) |
Notable work | This Is Going to Hurt (2017) |
Spouse | |
Website |
www |
Adam Richard Kay (born 12 June 1980) is a British TV writer, author, comedian and former doctor. He is best known as author of the number-one bestselling book This Is Going to Hurt (2017). [1] His television writing credits include This is Going to Hurt (based on his memoir of the same name), Crims, Mrs. Brown's Boys and Mitchell and Webb. [2] [3]
Adam Kay was born in Brighton, England, to Stewart and Naomi Kay, and grew up in a Jewish household with three siblings. [4] His father being a doctor, Kay describes becoming a doctor as being a default decision. [5] The Kay family was from Poland, the original family name being Strykowski. [5]
Kay attended Dulwich College, leaving in 1997, and Imperial College London, where he read medicine and graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) degree in 2004. [1] During his time at medical school, Kay began performing in medical school shows in 1998. [6] While at medical school, he founded the musical comedy group Amateur Transplants and wrote for BBC Radio 4. [7]
Kay initially trained in obstetrics and gynaecology before turning to writing.
Kay worked as a doctor between 2004 and 2010, leaving the profession after a patient's caesarean section was complicated by an undiagnosed placenta praevia; [1] the expectant mother was subsequently taken to the intensive care unit, while the baby was delivered stillborn, which left him with symptoms of PTSD. [5]
Kay founded the Amateur Transplants. Their song "London Underground", which was set to the tune of " Going Underground" by the Jam, gained significant popularity on the internet in the UK in 2005. Adam Kay has also made a song called "Paracitamoxyfruseybedoniomycin" set to the tune of "Supercalalabaexpieldoseos" [8] [9]
Kay's first book, This Is Going to Hurt, based on diaries from his former career as a doctor, was published by Picador in September 2017 [10] and became an instant Sunday Times bestseller. [11] The paperback edition was also an instant Sunday Times number one bestseller, [12] a position it held for well over a year [13] and selling more than 2.5 million copies. [14] It was chosen as Book of the Year in the UK's 2018 National Book Awards. [15] The book was well received by critics, including in the literary pages of The Times, [16] Financial Times, [17] Guardian, [18] and The Scotsman. [19]
In addition to being named Book of the Year, This Is Going to Hurt also won at the National Book Awards in the categories of Non-Fiction Book of the Year, New Writer of the Year and Book Club Book of the Year. [20] It was also awarded Blackwell's Debut Book of the Year 2017, [21] Sunday Times Humour Book of the Year, [22] and won both Non-Fiction Book of the Year and the overall prize in the 2017 Books Are My Bag Readers' Awards. [23] It was nominated for Non-Fiction Book of the Year in the 2018 British Book Awards, [24] won Esquire Book of the Year [25] and was a selection of the Zoe Ball Book Club. [26] This Is Going to Hurt has been translated into 28 languages, [27] achieving number-one status internationally. [28] It was the UK's second-best selling book of 2018. [29] On 6 July 2018, the BBC announced that Kay would be adapting This Is Going to Hurt as a seven-part comedy-drama for BBC One. It was made by Sister Pictures and Kay is one of the co-executive producers. Part one of the series, also titled This Is Going to Hurt, was broadcast on 8 February 2022. [30] Kay was awarded a BAFTA for his writing of the show at the 2023 British Academy Television Craft Awards.
Kay's second book, Twas the Nightshift before Christmas, was released in October 2019. [31] [32]
Kay is now an established screenwriter, having written and co-created the 2015 BBC Three sitcom series Crims – along with Grandma's House writer Dan Swimer, [33] with other television work as a writer and script editor including Mrs. Brown's Boys, Mongrels, Watson & Oliver, Up the Women, Very British Problems, Flat TV, Our Ex Wife, Who Is America?, Mitchell and Webb and Child Genius. [7]
In April 2020, it was announced that Trapeze would publish a collection of personal stories about the National Health Service (NHS) edited by Kay. Entitled Dear NHS: 100 Stories to Say Thank You, the book includes letters from stars including Paul McCartney, Louis Theroux, and Caitlin Moran. [34] [35]
Since 2020, Kay has written and released several children's books. [36] [37] [38]
In 2022, he published Undoctored: The Story of a Medic Who Ran Out of Patients. [39] [40]
Kay has sold out shows for six years at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe [41] and has also had sell-out nationwide UK tours. [42] His 2018 tour of This Is Going to Hurt sold out a season at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC), the largest venue of the Edinburgh Fringe, [43] and a week at the Garrick Theatre, before culminating in two shows at the Hammersmith Apollo. [44] He performs regularly at cultural events including the Latitude Festival, [45] and the Cheltenham Literature Festival. [46] Kay won Best Musical Variety Act at the 2014 London Cabaret Awards [47] and has been named by the Evening Standard as one of London's most influential people. [48]
He has performed songs on the topical BBC Radio 4 series The Now Show [49] and has appeared on numerous TV shows, such as The Russell Howard Hour on Sky One, [50] BBC Breakfast, Lorraine, [51] Peston on Sunday [52] and 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown. [53]
Kay is gay, [57] and was voted in Pink News' top 50 most influential LGBT Twitter users. [58] Kay married James Farrell in 2018, and together they have two children through surrogacy which he announced in June 2023. [59] [60] Kay and his family live in Oxfordshire, England. [61]