Originally published: 15 September 2022

Author: Adam Kay

Published by: Trapeze

Genre: Memoir

Length: 288 pages / 8hrs 41 mins

Dates read: 20-25 April 2023

This Is Going to Hurt was the publishing phenomenon of the century, read by many millions, loved by at least fifty of them, and adapted into a major TV series. But it was only part of the story.

By turns hilarious, heartbreaking and humbling, Undoctored is about what happens when a doctor hangs up his scrubs, but medicine refuses to let go of him.

It’s about an extraordinary medical school education.

It’s about opening old wounds and examining the present-day scars.

It’s about hospital admissions and personal ones. It’s about blowing up your life and stitching it back together.

It’s about being a doctor and being a patient.

It’s about 300 pages long.

Undoctored is Adam Kay’s funniest and most moving book yet—an astonishing portrait of a life in and out of medicine, from one of Britain’s finest storytellers.

I’m a huge fan of Adam Kay’s previous books, This is Going to Hurt and Twas the Nightshift Before Christmas and was lucky enough to see a live performance, songs and all! I treated myself to the hardback of Undoctored at Christmas and I’m thrilled to say I have read/listened to it before the paperback is out!

Undoctored is what happened to Adam after he left medicine. It looks at his journey into writing and comedy but also goes back to his University days and what it was like to study medicine. He already mentioned in his first book how silly it is that we essentially choose our career path at the tender age of 16, choosing the A-levels that will get us into the degree course we want to do and a degree in medicine really does throw you in at the deep end.

There is a lot of hugely personal stuff in this memoir that shocked me including his relationship with food, his mental health and a sexual assault. He also seems to have had his fair share of medical emergencies in which his favoured method of treatment was waiting to see if it would go away!

As expected, Undoctored is laugh out loud funny, often about things you really feel you shouldn’t be laughing at, but also moving and shocking. I listened to the audio which was narrated by the author and was hanging off every word. If you’ve enjoyed Kay’s earlier books, or even if you haven’t tried him yet, I’d highly recommend this.

About the author:

Adam Kay is an author, TV writer, comedian and former junior doctor. His first book, This is Going to Hurt, spent over a year at number one in the Sunday Times bestseller list, was translated into 37 languages, won numerous awards, and sold over three million copies. His subsequent adult nonfiction books, Twas the Nightshift Before Christmas and Undoctored were also Sunday Times number one bestsellers. He edited Dear NHS: 100 Stories to Say Thank You, raising over £400,000 for charity. He is also one of the country’s bestselling children’s authors, writing Kay’s Anatomy, the fastest selling kids’ non-fiction book of the decade, and Kay’s Marvellous Medicine. His first picture book, Amy Gets Eaten, will be published in April 2023.

As a live performer, Adam has sold-out several West End seasons and UK tours. His tour of This is Going to Hurt was attended by over 250,000 people.

Adam’s awards for TV writing include the Writers Guild award for adapting This is Going to Hurt for the BBC and AMC. He is a columnist for the Sunday Times, and a proud patron of The Lullaby Trust and The Laura Hyde Foundation.

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/amateuradam
Website: http://www.adamkay.co.uk/