Undoctored

Undoctored by Adam Kay (2022 Trapeze paperback 274pp)

 

 

Five or so years ago UK comedian and writer Adam Kay produced “This Is Going to Hurt” a diary- style memoir of his time as a junior doctor in the organised chaos of the NHS. The book snowballed into becoming a massive best-seller and he eventually adapted it into a television series that screened early in 2022. I was a big fan of both and was looking forwards to this follow-up book.

“Undoctored” is quite different than the earlier volume. It is more a collection of anecdotes and stories loosely connected by a narrative. The stories come from before, after and during his time as a doctor and weave back and forth like that throughout the book.

Kay’s sense of humour remains a highlight with running gags (e.g., Wolves and Paninis) and the darkest of jokes at appropriate times. The main connecting narrative follows his struggles to find work and start a career beyond medicine. Frequent arguments with his partner and the pressure from his parents don’t help his sense of insecurity and anxiety.

Some of the stories are quite slight and on the whole the book doesn’t quite have quite the eye-opening impact of the earlier book. The two that stand out for me are his account of how someone’s comment about his weight leads to a downwards spiral into an eating disorder and a section near the end where he details a trip to New Zealand which ended in a sexual assault. He seems to be using this book to unburden himself of several demons which have plagued him for years. For all the humour it ends in a very dark place as he wonders if his sense of humour has developed as a coping mechanism for all the horrors he’s endured.

Worth the read if you were a fan of the earlier book at wondered what happened next, just don’t go in thinking its all going to be hilarious.