Adam Richard Kay (born 12 June 1980) is a British TV writer, author, comedian and former doctor. He is the author of the memoir '' This Is Going to Hurt'' (2017), about his time as a trainee doctor. 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 Mitchell and Webb are a British comedy double act composed of David Mitchell and Robert Webb. They are best known for starring in the Channel 4 sitcom '' Peep Show'' and their radio and TV sketch shows '' That Mitchell and Webb Sound'' and '' ...

''.

Early life and education

Adam Kay was born in

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

, England, to Stewart and Naomi Kay, and grew up in a Jewish household with three siblings. His father being a doctor, Kay describes becoming a doctor as being a default decision.''This Is Going to Hurt'', . The Kay family was from Poland, the original family name being Strykowski. Kay attended

Dulwich College Dulwich College is a 2-18 private, day and boarding school for boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a public school, it began as the College of God's Gift, founded in 1619 by Elizabethan actor Edward Alleyn, with the original purpose of ...

, leaving in 1997, and

Imperial College London Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...

, where he read medicine and graduated with a

Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery A Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (; MBBS, also abbreviated as BM BS, MB ChB, MB BCh, or MB BChir) is a medical degree granted by medical schools or universities in countries that adhere to the United Kingdom's higher education trad ...

(MBBS) degree in 2004. During his time at medical school, Kay began performing in medical school shows in 1998. While at medical school, he founded the musical comedy group Amateur Transplants and wrote for

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

.Curtis Brown Talent Agency
"Adam Kay"
As of April 2017.

Career

Kay initially trained in obstetrics and gynaecology before turning to writing.

Medicine

Kay worked as a doctor between 2004 and 2010, leaving the profession after a patient's

caesarean section Caesarean section, also known as C-section, cesarean, or caesarean delivery, is the Surgery, surgical procedure by which one or more babies are Childbirth, delivered through an incision in the mother's abdomen. It is often performed because va ...

was complicated by an undiagnosed placenta praevia; the expectant mother was subsequently taken to the

intensive care unit An intensive care unit (ICU), also known as an intensive therapy unit or intensive treatment unit (ITU) or critical care unit (CCU), is a special department of a hospital or health care facility that provides intensive care medicine. An inten ...

. Sadly, the baby was delivered stillborn, which left him with symptoms of

post-traumatic stress disorder Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental disorder that develops from experiencing a Psychological trauma, traumatic event, such as sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, warfare and its associated traumas, natural disaster ...

Music

Kay founded the Amateur Transplants. Their song "London Underground", which was set to the tune of "

Going Underground "Going Underground" is a single by English rock band the Jam, written by lead guitarist Paul Weller and released in March 1980. It debuted at number one in the UK Singles Chart, spending three weeks at the top. "Going Underground" was the fir ...

" by

the Jam The Jam were an English rock band formed in 1972 in Woking, Surrey, consisting of Paul Weller, Bruce Foxton and Rick Buckler. They released 18 consecutive top 40 singles in the United Kingdom, from their debut in 1977 to their break-up in ...

, gained significant popularity on the internet in the UK in 2005.

Writing

Kay's first book, '' This Is Going to Hurt'', based on diaries from his former career as a doctor, was published by

Picador A ''picador'' (; pl. ''picadores'') is one of the pair of horse-mounted bullfighters in a Spanish-style bullfight that jab the bull with a lance. They perform in the ''tercio de varas'', which is the first of the three stages in a stylized bull ...

in September 2017 and became a ''

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

'' bestseller. The paperback edition was also a ''Sunday Times'' number one bestseller, a position it held for over a year and selling more than 2.5 million copies. It was chosen as Book of the Year in the UK's 2018

National Book Award The National Book Awards (NBA) are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. ...

s. The book was well received by critics, including in the literary pages of ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

'', ''

Guardian Guardian usually refers to: * Legal guardian, a person with the authority and duty to care for the interests of another * ''The Guardian'', a British daily newspaper (The) Guardian(s) may also refer to: Places * Guardian, West Virginia, Unit ...

'', and ''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact (newspaper), compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until ...

''. 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. It was also awarded

Blackwell's Blackwell UK, also known as Blackwell's and Blackwell Group, is a British academic book retailer and library supply service owned by Waterstones. It was founded in 1879 by Benjamin Henry Blackwell, after whom the chain is named, on Broad Stree ...

Debut Book of the Year 2017, ''Sunday Times'' Humour Book of the Year, and won both Non-Fiction Book of the Year and the overall prize in the 2017

Books Are My Bag Readers' Awards The Books Are My Bag Readers' Awards are annual literary awards presented by the Booksellers Association in the UK and Ireland since 2016. They are sponsored by National Book Tokens. History and administration The awards were launched at the 201 ...

. It was nominated for Non-Fiction Book of the Year in the 2018

British Book Awards The British Book Awards or Nibbies are literary awards for the best UK writers and their works, administered by ''The Bookseller''. The awards have had several previous names, owners and sponsors since being launched in 1990, including the Na ...

, won ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman ...

'' Book of the Year and was a selection of the Zoe Ball Book Club. ''This Is Going to Hurt'' has been translated into 28 languages, achieving number-one status internationally. It was the UK's second-best selling book of 2018. On 6 July 2018, the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

announced that Kay would be adapting ''This Is Going to Hurt'' as a seven-part comedy-drama for

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

. 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. 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. Kay is now an established screenwriter, having written and co-created the 2015

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes for a 16 to 34-year-old target aud ...

sitcom series '' Crims'' – along with '' Grandma's House'' writer Dan Swimer, with other television work as a writer and

script editor A script editor is a member of the production team of scripted television and radio programs, usually dramas and comedies. The script editor has many responsibilities including finding new script writers, developing storyline and series ideas wit ...

including '' Mrs. Brown's Boys'', '' Mongrels'', '' Watson & Oliver'', '' Up the Women'', '' Very British Problems'', '' Flat TV'', ''Our Ex Wife'', '' Who Is America?'', ''

'' and '' Child Genius''. In April 2020, it was announced that Trapeze would publish a collection of personal stories about the

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...

(NHS) edited by Kay. Entitled ''Dear NHS: 100 Stories to Say Thank You'', the book includes letters from stars including

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...

, Louis Theroux, and

Caitlin Moran Catherine Elizabeth Moran ( ; born 5 April 1975) is an English journalist, broadcaster, and author at ''The Times'', where she writes two columns a week: one for the Saturday Magazine, and the satirical Friday column "Celebrity Watch". Moran w ...

. Since 2020, Kay has written and released several children's books. In 2022, he published ''Undoctored: The Story of a Medic Who Ran Out of Patients''.

Performing

Kay has sold out shows for six years at the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...

and has also had sell-out nationwide UK tours. His 2018 tour of ''This Is Going to Hurt'' sold out a season at the

Edinburgh International Conference Centre The Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC) is the principal convention and conference centre in Edinburgh, Scotland. EICC have a simple mission, to create an environment that inspires ideas that change the world. Location The centre ...

(EICC), the largest venue of the Edinburgh Fringe, and a week at the

Garrick Theatre The Garrick Theatre is a West End theatre, located in Charing Cross Road, in the City of Westminster, named after the stage actor David Garrick. It opened in 1889 with ''The Profligate'', a play by Arthur Wing Pinero, and another Pinero play, ...

, before culminating in two shows at the

Hammersmith Apollo The Hammersmith Apollo, currently called the Eventim Apollo for sponsorship reasons, and formerly and still commonly known as the Hammersmith Odeon, is a live entertainment performance venue, originally built as a cinema called the Gaumont Pa ...

. He performs regularly at cultural events including the

Latitude Festival Latitude Festival is an annual music and arts festival set within the grounds of Henham Park, near Southwold, Suffolk, England. The first edition of the festival took place in 2006 and has continued annually (apart from 2020 when it was cancel ...

, and the Cheltenham Literature Festival. Kay won Best Musical Variety Act at the 2014 London Cabaret Awards and has been named by the ''

Evening Standard The ''London Standard'', formerly the ''Evening Standard'' (1904–2024) and originally ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), is a long-established regional newspaper published weekly and distributed free newspaper, free of charge in London, Engl ...

'' as one of London's most influential people. He has performed songs on the topical BBC Radio 4 series '' The Now Show'' and has appeared on numerous TV shows, such as '' The Russell Howard Hour'' on

Sky One Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non- terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...

, ''

BBC Breakfast ''BBC Breakfast'' is a British television breakfast news programme, produced by BBC News and broadcast on BBC One every morning from 6:00am. It is also broadcast on the UK feed of BBC News channel on weekends. The simulcast is presented live, ...

'', ''

Lorraine Lorraine, also , ; ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; ; ; is a cultural and historical region in Eastern France, now located in the administrative region of Grand Est. Its name stems from the medieval kingdom of ...

'', '' Peston on Sunday'' and ''

8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown ''8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown'' is a British comedy panel show on Channel 4. The show follows the game of '' Countdown'', but presented in a comedy panel show format seen on ''8 Out of 10 Cats'', with the show being a crossover of the two. ...

''.

Books

* 2017: '' This Is Going to Hurt'' * 2019: ''Twas the Nightshift before Christmas'' Twas the Nightshift before Christmas * 2020: ''Dear NHS: 100 Stories to Say Thank You''Dear NHS: 100 Stories to Say Thank You. Trapeze * 2020: Adam Kay and Henry Paker, ''Kay's Anatomy: A Complete (and Completely Disgusting) Guide to the Human Body''Kay's Anatomy: A Complete (and Completely Disgusting) Guide to the Human Body, Delacorte Press * 2021: Adam Kay and Henry Paker, ''Kay's Marvellous Medicine: A Gross and Gruesome History of the Human Body''Kay's Marvellous Medicine: A Gross and Gruesome History of the Human Body Puffin, * 2022: ''Undoctored: The Story of a Medic Who Ran Out of Patients'' * 2023: Adam Kay and Henry Paker, ''Kay's Brilliant Brains''Kay's Brilliant Brains, Puffin, * 2023: Adam Kay and Henry Paker, ''Amy Gets Eaten''Amy Gets Eaten, Puffin, * 2023: Adam Kay and Henry Paker, ''Kay's Incredible Inventions'' * 2024: Adam Kay and others, '' Charlie and the Christmas Factory''.

Personal life

Kay is gay, and was voted in '' Pink News'' top 50 most influential LGBT Twitter users. Kay married James Farrell in 2018, and together they have two children through

surrogacy Surrogacy is an arrangement whereby a woman gets pregnant and gives birth on behalf of another person or couple who will become the child's legal parents after birth. People pursue surrogacy for a variety of reasons such as infertility, danger ...

which he announced in June 2023. Kay and his family live in

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

, England.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kay, Adam 1980 births 21st-century English LGBTQ people Alumni of Imperial College London Comedians from Brighton and Hove English comedy writers English gay writers English gynaecologists English LGBTQ comedians English male comedians English obstetricians English people of Polish descent Gay comedians Gay Jews Jewish English comedians Jewish English writers Living people People educated at Dulwich College Writers from Brighton