Martin Kihn is an American writer and digital marketer.

Early life and education

Martin Kihn was born in Zambia, where his parents met while working in a hospital. His South African-born father is a doctor, and his Scottish mother, a former actress, is now a drama teacher. He grew up in Michigan. He has earned a BA in Theater Studies from

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

and an MBA from Columbia Business School. Kihn subsequently worked as a consultant for

Booz Allen Hamilton Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corporation (informally Booz Allen) is the parent of Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., an American management and information technology consulting firm, headquartered in McLean, Virginia, in Greater Washington, D.C., with 8 ...

and a

digital marketing Digital marketing is the component of marketing that uses the Internet and online based digital technologies such as desktop computers, mobile phones and other digital media and platforms to promote products and services. Its development d ...

analyst for the advertising agency

Digitas Publicis Groupe is a French multinational advertising and public relations company. One of the oldest and largest marketing and communications companies in the world by revenue, it is headquartered in Paris. After 1945, the little-known Paris ...

. In 2013, he became a digital marketing and advertising technology analyst for

Gartner Gartner, Inc is a technological research and consulting firm based in Stamford, Connecticut that conducts research on technology and shares this research both through private consulting as well as executive programs and conferences. Its client ...

Personal life

Kihn is married to the musician Julia Douglass, and they reside in

Katonah, New York Katonah is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) within the town of Bedford, Westchester County, in the U.S. state of New York. The Katonah CDP had a population of 1,679 at the 2010 census. History Katonah is named for Chief Katonah, an ...

. He is the basis for the character Marty Kaan, played by

Don Cheadle Donald Frank Cheadle Jr. (; born November 29, 1964) is an American actor. He is the recipient of multiple accolades, including two Grammy Awards, a Tony Award, two Golden Globe Awards and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. He has also earned nom ...

in the

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...

series, ''

House of Lies ''House of Lies'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by Matthew Carnahan. The show, which premiered on Showtime on January 8, 2012, is based on the book ''House of Lies: How Management Consultants Steal Your Watch and Then Tel ...

''.

Works

After working as a researcher and writer for ''Forbes'' and ''New York'', among others, Kihn was head writer for the MTV Networks series, ''

Pop-Up Video ''Pop Up Video'' is a VH1 television show that shows music videos annotated via "pop-up" bubbles — officially called "info nuggets" — containing trivia and witticisms relating to the video in question. The show was created by Woody T ...

'', from 1997 to 1999. His memoir, ''House of Lies'', based on his experience as a consultant, was published in 2005. Writing in ''Salon'',

Farhad Manjoo Farhad Manjoo (born 1978) is an American journalist. Manjoo was a staff writer for ''Slate'' magazine from 2008 to September 2013, when they left to join ''The Wall Street Journal''. In January 2014, they joined ''The New York Times'', replacing ...

said, "Kihn's breezy,

Jay McInerney John Barrett "Jay" McInerney Jr. (; born January 13, 1955) is an American novelist, screenwriter, editor, and columnist. His novels include ''Bright Lights, Big City (novel), Bright Lights, Big City'', ''Ransom'', ''Story of My Life (novel), Sto ...

-inspired writing renders anagement consultingprecisely, often hilariously." Kihn published two subsequent memoirs: ''A$$hole'' (2008) and ''Bad Dog: A Love Story'' (2011). Warner Bros. paid $500,000 for the rights to ''A$$hole'', a parody of a business self-help book. ''Bad Dog: A Love Story'' relates how Kihn overcame personal problems by training his unruly

Bernese Mountain Dog The Bernese Mountain Dog (german: Berner Sennenhund) is a large dog breed, one of the four breeds of Sennenhund- type dogs from Bern, Switzerland and the Swiss Alps. These dogs have roots in the Roman mastiffs. The name ''Sennenhund'' is derived ...

, Hola. * ''House of Lies: How Management Consultants Steal Your Watch and Then Tell You the Time'', Grand Central, 2005 * '' Asshole: How I Got Rich and Happy by Not Giving a Shit About You'',

Broadway Books Broadway Books, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a Division of Random House, Inc., released its first list in Fall, 1996. Broadway was founded in 1995 as a unit of Bantam Doubleday Dell a unit of Bertelsmann. Bertelsmann acquired Rand ...

, 2008 * ''Bad Dog: A Love Story'',

Pantheon Pantheon may refer to: * Pantheon (religion), a set of gods belonging to a particular religion or tradition, and a temple or sacred building Arts and entertainment Comics *Pantheon (Marvel Comics), a fictional organization * ''Pantheon'' (Lone S ...

, 2011 * ''Customer Data Platforms: Use People Data to Transform the Future of Marketing Engagement'', 2020 (with Christopher B. O'Hara)

References

External links

martykihn.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kihn, Martin Living people Yale University alumni Columbia Business School alumni American memoirists Year of birth missing (living people) Gartner people Booz Allen Hamilton people Forbes people 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American male writers American people of Scottish descent American people of South African descent American parodists