Anti-Social

The spectacularly funny, moving and urgent memoir of a disillusioned council worker. Now a Sunday Times bestseller.'Anti-Social is brutally honest, exceptionally funny and terribly sad - a scything indictment of broken 21st century Britain. I could not put it down.' THE SECRET BARRISTER'A fascinating insight into a job that stitches together the cracks in compassion in our communities' RENI EDDO-LODGE, bestselling author of Why I Am No Longer Talking To White People About Race'Superb. This hysterically funny and moving memoir of an anti-social behaviour officer is a real eye-opener that hits all the right notes' FRANKIE BOYLE__Anti-Social is the diary of a disillusioned local authority worker whose job it is to keep people happy, or at least away from each other's throats. That's hard enough at the best of times, but when your day features secret hoarders, violent disputes over dance music and litigious arms dealers, the total breakdown of local society is never far away. The only thing keeping it together are the chronically underfunded officers charged with patching the fraying threads of civilisation, and they have a hard enough time keeping themselves together.This is an urgent, timely but, most of all, hysterically funny memoir of a life spent working with the people society wants to forget and the problems that nobody else can resolve. This book will make you laugh, cry and boil with rage, all within a single sentence.Updated with a new chapter for the paperback edition__'Get this book ... I'm telling you now, you will absolutely love this guy, what he has to say and the book that he has written. In equal parts devastating and dark and incredibly funny.' NIHAL ARTHANAYAKE'Laugh-out-loud funny. The delivery is punchy and the humour dark - think Irvine Welsh minus the Scottish vernacular' EXPRESS'Think Adam Kay's This is Going to Hurt but with more dead bodies ... It's a gloriously cynical read but it's also sympathetic and deeply empathetic.' KATHY BURKE'Riveting and brilliantly written... a potent cocktail of heartbreak and horror; wickedly funny, wearily endearing and absolutely enraging' CAROLINE SANDERSON, Bookseller'A funny, thoughtful look into one of the toughest jobs I can imagine' SHAPPI KORSANDI'I absolutely loved it. It reads like a novel, has that page-turning quality everyone looks for in a good book but it delivers the punch that only true life can - funny obviously but with humanity and warmth for people at the edges of society most in need of our understanding and compassion' KIT DE WAAL, author of My Name Is Leon'Brilliant. This deserves to be a huge success - funny, sad and heartbreaking' LORRAINE KELLY__Reader reviews for Anti-Social-'The timing of this book could not be better''Politicians of all hues should be made to read this book''Readable and compulsive''Well written and stunningly well observed''The author and all his long-suffering, dedicated colleagues deserve dustbin lid-sized medals''It had me in stitches, it had me in tears''Top-drawer stuff ... utterly riveting''I don't often take the time to review books here, but would very much recommend Anti-Social.'

“"A gruesome and darkly comic insight into the life of a ASB Officer. Think Adam Kay''s This is Going to Hurt but with more dead bodies (and not just human ones) and an abundance of cat shit. It''s a gloriously cynical read but it''s also sympathetic and deeply empathetic. Being an ASB Officer comes across as one of those ''rotten but somebody''s got to do it jobs'' and I was glad that in these cases, that that somebody was the author." -- Kathy Burke "Superb. This hysterically funny and moving memoir of an anti-social behaviour officer is a real eye-opener that hits all the right notes." -- Frankie Boyle "A riveting and brilliantly written memoir . . . There is a human story on every page to make you cry with sorrow, cry with laughter or curl your toes in horror (often all three at once). The result is a potent cocktail of heartbreak and horror; wickedly funny, wearily endearing and absolutely enraging." -- Caroline Sanderson, Bookseller "A funny, thoughtful look into one of the toughest jobs I can imagine." -- Shappi Korsandi "I absolutely loved it. It reads like a novel, has that page turning quality everyone looks for in a good book but it delivers the punch that only true life can--funny obviously but with humanity and warmth for people at the edges of society most in need of our understanding and compassion." -- Kit De Waal, author of My Name Is Leon "Brilliant. This deserves to be a huge success--funny, sad and heartbreaking." -- Lorraine Kelly "Stories of tragedy and comedy from the social housing frontline . . . Shocking . . . Laugh-out-loud funny. The delivery is punchy and the humour dark--think Irvine Welsh minus the Scottish vernacular . . . The reader is taken from pathos to snort-inducing comedy and back again in just two sentences." -- Express "Extraordinary, fascinating, very moving and very funny." -- Christine Lampard "A fascinating insight into a job that stitches together the cracks in compassion in our communities." -- Renni Eddo-Lodge, bestselling author of Why I Am No Longer Talking To White People About Race " Anti-Social is brutally honest, exceptionally funny and terribly sad - a scything indictment of broken 21st century Britain. I could not put it down." -- The Secret Barrister "This is a wonderful book. Full of heart and humour and the genuine care for people going through a hard time runs through it." "Horrifying, funny, important . . . Really great - an insight into another world, in the same vein as This is Going to Hurt andThe Secret Barrister." "A fascinating man with a fascinating story. Get this book. So dark but also funny and well written . . . It''s been a real eyeopener reading this book. Poignant and empathetic, caring and silly in a few places. In equal parts devastating and dark and incredibly funny." "It''s really interesting . . . Really important." "Combining snark with sensitivity, Nick''s increasing cynicism and depression add an extra dash of gallows humour to situations which are anything but funny.,[An] enjoyable and valuable read that should generate justified appreciation for public servants trying to sort out some of society''s more intractable problems." "Following in the footsteps of Adam Kay andThe Secret Barrister, Pettigrew delivers an entertaining and informative account of his career as a much-harassed anti-social behaviour officer. Hilarious and enraging in equal measure, Anti-Social documents a world of obnoxious neighbours and damaged individuals with wit, compassion and righteous anger." "This story of what it''s like to do one of the UK''s hardest gigs is a witty page-turner on the one hand, a shocking indictment of austerity on the other. Blackly comic, it will make you rage, weep and laugh out loud--sometimes in the space of a paragraph."”

Anti-Social is brutally honest, exceptionally funny and terribly sad - a scything indictment of broken 21st century Britain. I could not put it down. -- The Secret Barrister
Superb. This hysterically funny and moving memoir of an anti-social behaviour officer is a real eye-opener that hits all the right notes -- Frankie Boyle
I absolutely loved it. It reads like a novel, has that page turning quality everyone looks for in a good book but it delivers the punch that only true life can - funny obviously but with humanity and warmth for people at the edges of society most in need of our understanding and compassion.
A fascinating insight into a job that stitches together the cracks in compassion in our communities -- Renni Eddo-Lodge, author of Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race
A gruesome and darkly comic insight into the life of a ASB Officer. Think Adam Kay's This is Going to Hurt but with more dead bodies (and not just human ones) and an abundance of cat shit. It's a gloriously cynical read but it's also sympathetic and deeply empathetic. Being an ASB Officer comes across as one of those "rotten but somebody's got to do it jobs" and I was glad that in these cases, that that somebody was the author. -- Kathy Burke
Stories of tragedy and comedy from the social housing frontline . . . Shocking . . . Laugh-out-loud funny. The delivery is punchy and the humour dark - think Irvine Welsh minus the Scottish vernacular . . . The reader is taken from pathos to snort-inducing comedy and back again in just two sentences Express
A funny, thoughtful look into one of the toughest jobs I can imagine. -- Shappi Khorsandi
A fascinating man with a fascinating story. Get this book. So dark but also funny and well written . . . It's been a real eyeopener reading this book. Poignant and empathetic, caring and silly in a few places. In equal parts devastating and dark and incredibly funny. -- Nihal Arthanayake
Brilliant. This deserves to be a huge success - funny, sad and heartbreaking
A riveting and brilliantly written memoir . . . There is a human story on every page to make you cry with sorrow, cry with laughter or curl your toes in horror (often all three at once). The result is a potent cocktail of heartbreak and horror; wickedly funny, wearily endearing and absolutely enraging. Bookseller

Nick Pettigrew was an Anti-Social Behaviour Officer for over a decade. From bothersome neighbours with a fondness for crack cocaine and loud dance music to those being racially abused every day, Nick's job involved keeping the community happy. Or at least away from each other's throats.He has a background in comedy and was a standup comedian for several years, taking two successful shows to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. His comedy writing has been published by Shortlist and The Telegraph. He was a regular writer for The Daily Mash for over eight years.

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