A book which chronicles the struggles of NHS staff and the politics surrounding the health service has been honoured at the National Book Awards.
Comedian and former doctor Adam Kay earned three awards at the ceremony, hosted by Zoe Ball, for his diaries titled This Is Going To Hurt, penned during his medical career and published in response to Government clashes with junior doctors.
An often-humorous exploration of the realities facing health service staff, the book has earned Kay awards for New Writer Of The Year, Popular Nonfiction Book Of The Year, and the Book Club Book Of The Year.
Novelist Philip Pullman was crowned Author Of The Year, and was honoured alongside inspiring stories for young boys, and a collection of feminist essays. The writer behind the His Dark Materials trilogy was given the award for his work on its prequel, The Book Of Dust.
Pullman, 72, has followed up his fantasy trilogy after a nearly two-decade gap, and part one of the work chronicling a fight against a theocratic power, La Belle Sauvage, has been honoured at the annual awards.
The outspoken critic of religion was revealed as the Author Of The Year at a ceremony at the British Institute in London, and was named ahead of contenders including JK Rowling, Jacqueline Wilson and Sebastian Faulks.
Irish writer Sally Rooney claimed the crown of Best International Author for Normal People, and Best Audiobook went to Carlo Rovelli’s The Order of Time, read by screen star Benedict Cumberbatch. Stories For Boys Who Dare To Be Different, by Ben Brooks and illustrated by Quinton Winter, was named Children’s Book Of The Year.
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine, by Gail Honeyman, was named the Popular Fiction Book Of The Year, beating off competition from the likes of Graham Norton.
The Autobiography or Biography Of The Year was revealed as Dolly Alderton’s Everything I Know About Love, which was selected over contenders including My Thoughts Exactly by Lily Allen.
A collection of writings on women’s issues and the subject of feminism, collated by Scarlett Curtis, Feminists Don’t Wear Pink won the award for Young Adult Book of the Year.
Belinda Bauer’s novel Snap was named as the Crime/Thriller Book of the Year, and chef and restaurateur Yotam Ottolenghi claimed the award for Food & Drink Book of the Year with Ottolenghi Simple.