'Entrepreneurial' Killingbeck leaves Viking for A M Heath

Viking editorial director Tom Killingbeck will join A M Heath as an agent specialising in non-fiction. 

He starts the new role on 4th May and will build a list seeking new expert perspectives on history, science, nature, politics, current affairs, business and health. He will look for definitive narratives in arts and culture, especially music, and distinctive illustrated titles for a general readership.  

Killingbeck joined Viking in 2019 where he has published a broad range of prize-winning and bestselling non-fiction including John Preston’s Costa Biography Award-winning Fall, Ed Caesar’s Telegraph Sports Book Award-winning The Moth and the Mountain, Bimini Bon Boulash’s A Drag Queen’s Guide to Life and Dame Jane Goodall’s The Book of Hope. He has also commissioned books by Isabel Hardman and Adam Higginbotham.

Prior to working at Penguin, he worked at William Collins and Fourth Estate, starting out on the graduate trainee scheme and going on to publish Bella Mackie’s Jog On (Fourth Estate), Will Storr’s The Science of Storytelling and Guy Shrubsole’s Who Owns England? (both published by William Collins).  He helped launch both the 4thWrite Prize and the TLS Books imprint. 

A M Heath said: “We are delighted that Tom has decided to make the move into agenting and join A M Heath. His creative flair, exceptional publishing instincts, and entrepreneurial spirit have marked him out as an impressive non-fiction publisher and these are all qualities which will serve him — and his future clients — very well as an agent. As A M Heath continues to grow and build on our successes, Tom will bring a unique and welcome perspective to the company.” 

Killingbeck commented: “I’m very grateful for the opportunity to earn my stripes at A M Heath, an agency whose rich history and roster I have long admired and envied. It’s a wrench to be leaving the brilliant authors and team at Penguin, who have taught me so much, but I’m excited to connect with publishing colleagues old and new from the other side of the fence, to work with writers I admire more closely, and to develop an eclectic and essential list of books that will stand the course of time.”