Transworld lands comedian Wilkinson's 'delightfully absurd' autobiography

Transworld has landed comedian Joe Wilkinson’s autobiography.

Henry Vines, editorial director, acquired world rights to Joe Wilkinson: My Autobiography from the team at Avalon. The book will be illustrated by Henry Paker and publish in November 2023.

Wilkinson is celebrated for his eccentric appearances on “8 Out of 10 Cats”, “Have I Got News for You”, “Taskmaster” and “The Great British Bake Off”, and has acted in shows “Him & Her”, “Afterlife”, “Sex Education” and “Rovers”. 

The publisher said: “Charting the bizarre events and encounters of a turbulent life, from his unconventional childhood to his formative years on the dating scene, to his brief spell doing crime and serving time, to the invention that saved him and delivered his fortune, this illustrated series of adventures takes a sledgehammer to the conventional mid-career comedy memoir.

“With stories about becoming the bad boy of fly tipping, Joe’s car airbag addiction, and the time he tunnelled too far out of prison and ended up in the prison next door, this book is a delightfully absurd journey into the mind of a comic maverick.”

Wilkinson said: “I didn’t think I’d done anything in my life, then after a bang on the head while potholing in the Mendips it all came flooding back to me.”

Paker said: “Joe is a darkly charismatic man and, I’m not going to lie, I fell under his spell. He flashed those eyes at me and before I knew it I was contractually obliged to illustrate this book.”