Adam Kay Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

Adam Kay is an English author of humor, comedy, and memoir books best known for his bestselling book; This Is Going to Hurt. He is also a comedian and a retired medical doctor. Kay went to Dulwich College before studying medicine at Imperial. He began performing while he was studying medicine and formed a musical comedy group called Amateur Transplants.

He worked for some years as a gynecologist and an obstetrician as he wrote books before quitting his medical career for a writing career. Kay’s debut novel, This is Going to Hurt, is based on diaries of his experience while he worked as a doctor. The book became Sunday Times bestseller instantly and held the position for more than a year. It was also recognized as the book of the year in UK’s National Book Awards in 2018. The book also won other awards, such as Book Club Book of the Year, New Writer of the year, and Blackwell’s Debut Book of the Year in 2017, Sunday Times Humor Book of the Year. It also won British Book Award in 2018, Esquire Book of the year, and was selected in the Zoe Ball Book Club. The book was optioned to be adapted into a comedy-drama movie for BBC Two by Sister Pictures. Kay is also a screenwriter and has written and co-created the sitcom series in BBC Three Series in 2015.

This is Going to Hurt

The book narrates about the diary entries of Adams Kay’s experience when he worked as a doctor in NHS. He ascends from a junior doctor to being a consultant. He specializes in gynecology and an obstetric department, and he has both funny and sad stories to tell. He decided to quit the job as a doctor because of an incident that changed his life.

However, he has found out that those in the profession want to come out because of how they are treated. They are sometimes expected to spend extra hours after their shifts, and they don’t get any compensation for that. Having a day off does not work since you will end up being called to report to work during your off-hours. This has destroyed their relationship with family and friends.

The patients, on the other hand, are not nice to the doctors, too, and some go to the extent of threatening them. Most of us tend to think that doctors have a noble job that is well paid and are respected when that is not the case in NHS. Being a doctor makes your friends or relative think they can call you to inquire about any health problem they have not considering that you may not have specialized in that particular area.

As many of them decide to stay in the profession because they enjoy helping others, the NHS cuts and treatment of the service providers is unfair. The doctors are paid low salaries, work under pressure, and are mistreated by their seniors that lead to mental problems and mishaps when attending to the patients. Adam Kay speaks out the stress he went through and how this made him traumatized when attending to the patients.

Kay gives a personal account focusing on the long shifts and a lot of demands that are to be met by the doctors and other health professionals in the hospital. It is clear that they are not so much into the money but to assist people, which cost them personal harm in the end. Kay missed many important events in his life and those of his friends because of his demanding work schedule.

The book is written in an accessible, light episodic, and engaging way to give a real picture of what some doctors go through in their profession. Kay tries to make one consider that those working in the hospital are human and have their personal lives to live just like us and require proper treatment. The story narrates life behind the scenes and what doctors go through daily.

Even though the book focuses on British health systems, some of their flaws cut across many medical systems in most countries. The author develops a sense of humor when narrating the tragedy, pain, and deaths in Britain’s National Health Service. The story is heart-wrenching and hilarious read.

Twas the Nightshift Before Christmas

The book is a follow up of This is Going to Hurt. It is a hilarious book of a junior doctor and his trials and adventures during Christmas work. It focuses on various events that took place in over six Christmas periods when Kay was on shift. He worked at NHS for seven years and on Christmas day six times. He narrates to us his holiday season from 2004 to 2009, telling about the sickening festive and its aftermath. At some point, he describes a medical procedure he performs on a patient that left him traumatized.

He attends to a strange genital problem, infertility clients, and childbirth crises. Kay is also trying to keep his relationships with his lover and family since they are almost giving up on him due to his absence in most holidays. The story is ridiculous and, at the same time, heartbreaking. Keeping in mind that Adam Kay was training in gynecology and obstetrics, most of the learning included inserting inappropriate objects in inappropriate openings.

The writer’s main point is to bring to light the fact that most of us spend our Christmas at home with our families; over 1 million NHS workers are usually at work away from their friends and families taking care of other people in the hospital. The twenty-five stories of incredible, intriguing, and shocking incidents during Christmas will make you want to read more. The people in Britain will have to appreciate the effort and sacrifices made by people working in the NHS.

The author handles the heartbreaking parts with sensitivity. Twas, the Nightshift Before Christmas, is hilarious, poignant, and surprising and will make an ideal gift for someone during the festive seasons. Twas the Nightshift Before Christmas is more of a letter to the people who spend the festive season in the hospitals helping the sick and women giving birth at that wonderful period of the year.