Bill Bailey to publish memoir with Quercus

Quercus has acquired the rights to My Animals and Other Animals, the first memoir from comedian Bill Bailey.

Jon Butler, managing director of Quercus, acquired world rights direct in a major deal with Bailey’s production company, Glassbox Productions. The book will publish in hardback, e-book and audio on 10th October, priced at £25

The synopsis reads: “Bill Bailey has always had dogs in his life, including a Lakeland Terrier called Rocky who would travel with him in the van to his first shows and occasionally join him on stage. Fast forward a few decades and Bill shares his home with a variety of birds, dogs, frogs, chameleons and an armadillo called Tommy. ’We even had a giant chicken at the house for a while, a huge Malay cockerel, Kid Creole. After a few stand-offs he took against me. He had to go in the end, I was being stalked in my own back garden.’

“That chicken apart, animals have always been at the heart of an extraordinary life as one of the nation’s favourite comedians, actors, musicians and (thanks to "Strictly") dancers: from terriers to the orangutans of Sumatra and the parrots that share his breakfast every morning in west London.

“As anyone who has ever had a pet knows, animals are a constant source of joy, but they also connect us to the world and to each other, touching on a deeper, older human need for companionship. Full of the leftfield humour, wit and wisdom that has made Bill Bailey such a beloved performer around the world, My Animals, and Other Animals is the story of Bill’s life, but more than that, it’s the story of how all of our lives are enriched by the animals who accompany us on that journey.

Butler said: “This wonderful book, Bill’s first memoir, is the story of a full life told through the lens of brilliantly funny, warm, life-affirming anecdotes about the animals that have shared his journey. We can’t wait to share it with Bill’s millions of fans this autumn, and expect it to be one of the biggest selling books in the market in the lead up to Christmas.”

Bailey has previously published Bill Bailey’s Remarkable Guide to British Birds and Bill Bailey’s Remarkable Guide to Happiness, both with Quercus. He lives in west London with a small menagerie of animals and humans.