Author(s): Michael Heatley

Biography/Memoir

Ricky Gervais began life as the youngest of four brothers on a Reading housing estate in the early 1960s. He later studied philosophy at London University and went on to work for the university as entertainments manager. In 1996, Gervais became a presenter on London alternative radio station XFM, where he met Stephen Merchant, his writing partner and long-term collaborator. Televisual rungs on the stepladder to fame included Channel 4's Comedy Lab and The 11 O'Clock Show, as well as an unsuccessful chat show, Meet Ricky Gervais, all in the late 1990s. However, it was with The Office, with its sharply observed character studies set amid the mundanity of everyday working life, that Gervais finally achieved his career breakthrough. After the success of The Office came the BBC-TV series Extras, which added another fascinating entry to a CV that, in the honours and awards section, can already boast two Golden Globes, six BAFTAs, four British Comedy Awards and the prestigious American Peabody. Since his ascent to fame Gervais has issued best-selling DVDs of his stand-up routine and created a series of wacky children's books called Flanimals that has become cult reading for adults too. In Ricky Gervais: The Unauthorised Biography, Michael Heatley delves deep into the life and career of the nation's comic legend to discover the man behind David Brent and the source of his undoubted creative genius.