10 Books for Fans of Adam Kay’s This is Going to Hurt

First published in 2017, Adam Kay’s legendary memoir, This is Going to Hurt, captured hearts and tickled feathers of those around the nation. Now something of a national treasure, Kay’s first book has sold more than 1 million copies and spent many weeks at the top of the Sunday Times bestseller chart. His Christmas themed follow up, aptly titled T’was the Nightshift Before Christmas, went down similarly well, and his new memoir is set to be released in Autumn of 2022.

For those of you who are hungry for some clever medical writing before Kay’s newest instalment, then you’ve come to the right place. From the work of doctors and nurses to paramedics and psychologists, I’ve put together 10 of the best recommendations that will make you laugh, sob, smile, and contemplate our fragile existence on this earth. Enjoy!

The Language of Kindness by Christie Watson

One of the first medical memoirs that I read after devouring This is Going to Hurt, I quickly discovered that Christie Watson is an incredibly intelligent and insightful writer. In The Language of Kindness Christie documents her 20 years of nursing in NHS hospitals, exploring with beautiful writing what it means to have the privilege of caring for another human being. It’s a truly beautiful book and I’d highly recommend giving it a read.

Synopsis:

“Christie Watson was a nurse for twenty years. Taking us from birth to death and from A&E to the mortuary, The Language of Kindness is an astounding account of a profession defined by acts of care, compassion and kindness.

We watch Christie as she nurses a premature baby who has miraculously made it through the night, we stand by her side during her patient’s agonising heart-lung transplant, and we hold our breath as she washes the hair of a child fatally injured in a fire, attempting to remove the toxic smell of smoke before the grieving family arrive.

In our most extreme moments, when life is lived most intensely, Christie is with us. She is a guide, mentor and friend. And in these dark days of division and isolationism, she encourages us all to stretch out a hand.”

Can You Hear Me? by Jake Jones

Working on the frontline as an NHS paramedic, Jake Jones has seen his fair share of chaos. In this book he shares stories from his work on the road - never glamourising what is a difficult and often very undervalued job. Can You Hear Me? gives us a rare insight into the modern day ambulance service - the people who frequently pick up the pieces of an underfunded healthcare system. It’s a different perspective on medical writing that’s definitely worth picking up.

Synopsis:

A young man has stopped breathing in a supermarket toilet. A pedestrian with a nasty head injury won't let the crew near him on a busy road. A newborn baby is worryingly silent. An addict urinates on the ambulance floor when denied a fix.This is the life of an NHS ambulance paramedic.

Jake Jones has worked in the UK ambulance service for ten years: every day, he sees a dozen of the scenes we hope to see only once in a lifetime.Can You Hear Me? - the first thing he says when he arrives on the scene - is a memoir of the chaos, intensity and occasional beauty of life on the front-lines of medicine in the UK.

As well as a look into dozens of extraordinary scenes - the hoarder who won't move his collection to let his ailing father leave the house, the blood-soaked man who tries to escape from the ambulance, the life saved by a lucky crew who had been called to see someone else entirely - Can You Hear Me? is an honest examination of the strains and challenges of one of the most demanding and important jobs anyone can do.”

The Devil You Know by Dr Gwen Adshead and Eileen Horne

Here’s a recommendation for any of you crime and psychology lovers out there! Written in collaboration with Eileen Horn, the authors explore forensic psychology and what it’s like to work with some of the UK’s most dangerous criminals. More than that, it looks for the humanity within these people, and seeks to understand them on a deep level. It’s a fascinating read that I flew through within the space of a few days.

Synopsis:

“Dr Gwen Adshead is one of Britain's leading forensic psychiatrists. She treats serial killers, arsonists, stalkers, gang members and other individuals who are usually labelled 'monsters'. Whatever their crime, she listens to their stories and helps them to better understand their terrible acts of violence. Here Adshead invites the reader to step with her into the room to meet twelve patients and discover how minds can change. These men and women are revealed in all their complexity and shared humanity. Their stories make a powerful case for rehabilitation over revenge, compassion over condemnation. The Devil You Know will challenge everything you thought you knew about human nature.”

How to Treat People by Molly Case

Another sensitive piece of medical writing penned by a nurse, this is one that fans of Christie Watson will love.

Synopsis:

“The hand of a stranger offered in solace. A flower placed on a dead body as a mark of respect. A gentle word in response to fear and anger. It is these moments of empathy, in the extremis of human experience, which define us as people.

Nobody knows this better than a nurse and Molly Case has witnessed countless such moments. In How to Treat People, she documents these extraordinary points, when two people truly connect. In rich, lyrical prose, she introduces us to patients with whom we share the pain, but also the experience of illness when life is at its most vivid. And when her father is admitted to the high dependency unit on which she works, Molly confronts care in a whole new way, when two worlds - the professional and the personal - suddenly collide.

Weaving together medical history, art, memoir and science, How to Treat People beautifully illustrates the intricacies of the human condition and the oscillating rhythms of life and death. Most of all, it is a heart-stopping reminder that we can all find meaning in being part, even for a moment, of the lives of others.”

Dear NHS edited by Adam Kay

Edited by the one and only Adam Kay, this collection combines 100 stories told by a wide variety of people in the public eye. We all have a connection to the NHS, and this book showcases how diverse those connections can be, told by famous faces such as Graham Naughton, Fearne Cotton and Emilia Clarke.

Synopsis:

“The NHS is our single greatest achievement as a country. No matter who you are, no matter what your health needs are, and no matter how much money you have, the NHS is there for you. In Dear NHS, 100 inspirational people come together to share their stories of how the national health service has been there for them, and changed their lives in the process.

By turns deeply moving, hilarious, hopeful and impassioned, these stories together become a love letter to the NHS and the 1.4 million people who go above and beyond the call of duty every single day - selflessly, generously, putting others before themselves, never more so than now. They are all heroes, and this book is our way of saying thank you.”

Your Life in My Hands by rachel clarke

If you fancy reading the tales of another junior doctor, then Rachel Clarke is the author for you. Written in the shadow of 2016’s junior doctor strike action, Clarke’s writing illuminates just how difficult it is to work in the profession today. It’s an interesting read that has expanded my understanding of exactly what it is that junior doctors do, and why they deserve to be paid so well.

Synopsis:

“I am a junior doctor. It is 4 a.m. I have run arrest calls, treated life-threatening bleeding, held the hand of a young woman dying of cancer, scuttled down miles of dim corridors wanting to sob with sheer exhaustion, forgotten to eat, forgotten to drink, drawn on every fibre of strength that I possess to keep my patients safe from harm.'

How does it feel to be spat out of medical school into a world of pain, loss and trauma that you feel wholly ill-equipped to handle? To be a medical novice who makes decisions which - if you get them wrong - might forever alter, or end, a person's life?

In Your Life in My Hands, television journalist turned junior doctor Rachel Clarke captures the extraordinary realities of life on the NHS frontline. During last year's historic junior doctor strikes, Rachel was at the forefront of the campaign against the government's imposed contract upon young doctors. Her heartfelt, deeply personal account of life as a junior doctor in today's NHS is both a powerful polemic on the degradation of Britain's most vital public institution and a love letter of optimism and hope to that same health service.”

In the Skeleton Cupboard by Tanya Byron

Here’s a recommendation for anyone interested in the world of psychology and mental health! Whether it’s more of a casual interest or if you’re an aspiring clinical psychologist yourself, this book explores the profession through a young clinician’s eyes. It’s fascinating and well worth a read.

Synopsis:
”The Skeleton Cupboard is Professor Tanya Byron's account of her years of training as a clinical psychologist, when trainees find themselves in the toughest placements of their careers. Through the eyes of her naive and inexperienced younger self, Tanya shares remarkable stories inspired by the people she had the privilege to treat.

Gripping, poignant and full of daring black humour, this book reveals the frightening and challenging induction faced by all mental health staff and highlights their incredible commitment to their patients. Powerfully moving and beautifully written, The Skeleton Cupboard shares the tales of ordinary people with an amazing resilience to the challenges of life.”

When Breath Becomes Air by paul kalanithi

Paul Kalanithi wrote When Breath Becomes Air after he discovered that he, a brain surgeon, had an inoperable cancerous brain tumour that has spread from his lungs. Combining medical writing with philosophy, this book delves into the topics of mortality, and what it means to have a meaningful life. The writing is stunning and has such a different vibe from the other books on this list - I’d highly recommend it if philosophy is something that interests you.

Synopsis:

“What makes life worth living in the face of death? At the age of thirty-six, on the verge of completing a decade's training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer. One day he was a doctor treating the dying, the next he was a patient struggling to live.

When Breath Becomes Air chronicles Kalanithi's transformation from a medical student asking what makes a virtuous and meaningful life into a neurosurgeon working in the core of human identity - the brain - and finally into a patient and a new father. Paul Kalanithi died while working on this profoundly moving book, yet his words live on as a guide to us all. When Breath Becomes Air is a life-affirming reflection on facing our mortality and on the relationship between doctor and patient, from a gifted writer who became both.”

The Courage to Care by Christie Watson

The follow up to The Language of Kindness, Christie Watson’s second book takes a slightly different perspective. Rather than focusing on her own experiences, this book is a celebration of nursing as a profession, and looks at the varied experiences that nurses can have across the NHS. It’s another fantastic book by Watson and a celebration of the caring profession itself.

Synopsis:

“Nurses have never been more important. We benefit from their expertise in our hospitals and beyond: in our schools, on our streets, in prisons, hospices and care homes. When we feel most alone, nurses remind us that we are not alone at all.

In The Courage to Care bestselling author Christie Watson reveals the remarkable extent of nurses' work. A community mental-health nurse choreographs support for a man suffering from severe depression. A teen with stab wounds is treated by the critical-care team; his school nurse visits and he drops the bravado. A pregnant woman loses frightening amounts of blood following a car accident; it is a military nurse who synchronises the emergency department into immaculate order and focus.

Christie makes a further discovery: that, time and again, it is patients and their families - including her own - who show exceptional strength in the most challenging times. We are all deserving of compassion, and as we share in each other's suffering, Christie Watson shows us how we can find courage too. The courage to care.”

With the end in mind by kathryn manixx

I never thought I’d enjoy a book about dying quite as much as I loved With the End in Mind. A doctor who specialises in end of life and palliative care, Kathryn’s beautiful book demonstrates how dying can be done well, inspired by the many patients that’s she’s worked with over the years. It’s a wonderful read.

Synopsis:

“Told through a series of beautifully crafted stories taken from nearly four decades of clinical practice, her book answers the most intimate questions about the process of dying with touching honesty and humanity. She makes a compelling case for the therapeutic power of approaching death not with trepidation but with openness, clarity and understanding.

With the End in Mind is a book for us all: the grieving and bereaved, ill and healthy. Open these pages and you will find stories about people who are like you, and like people you know and love. You will meet Holly, who danced her last day away; Eric, the retired head teacher who, even with Motor Neurone Disease, gets things done; loving, tender-hearted Nelly and Joe, each living a lonely lie to save their beloved from distress; and Sylvie, 19, dying of leukaemia, sewing a cushion for her mum to hug by the fire after she has died.

These are just four of the book s thirty-odd stories of normal humans, dying normal human deaths. They show how the dying embrace living not because they are unusual or brave, but because that s what humans do. By turns touching, tragic, at times funny and always wise, they offer us illumination, models for action, and hope. Read this book and you ll be better prepared for life as well as death.”

Which if these books is your favourite? I’d love to know what you think, and if you have any others that I should add to my list!

10 Books for Fans of Adam Kay’s This is Going to Hurt