The Book of the Year 2019

The sheer scope of the research takes the breath away, and the humour is perfectly judged. – The Season’s Best Gift Books * Spectator * You can really dip in anywhere and be sure of finding something unexpected and amusing … the authors always remain curious and excited: for all their comic strengths, they are never too cynical to be fascinated. Despite everything, they still regards the world as a place of wonder * Mail on Sunday * Great fun, ideal to pick up and absorb in bite-sized chunks. Plus it might make a welcome change from buying the Guinness Book Of World Records every year ***** * How It Works * The Book Of The Year 2019 is a treat for all the ages. It’s stuffed with fascinating facts from the past twelve months … genuine talent and bucketloads of personality … It’s intellectual but always warm-hearted * British Comedy Guide * Another fine book of odd stories from No Such Thing As A Fish. I look forward to next year’s edition. * Daily Express *

No Such Thing as a Fish is a team of researchers who work on the BBC TV show QI. Each week they gather together in their Covent Garden office and record a podcast discussing the most interesting facts they’ve discovered over the previous seven days.

In the five years since it launched, the show has been downloaded more than 200 million times, won multiple awards, been transformed into the spin-off topical BBC Two TV series No Such Thing as the News, performed national and international tours (including selling out the Hammersmith Apollo and the Sydney Opera House along the way), and was named one of iTunes’ top 10 most downloaded podcasts of 2016, 2017 and 2018.

The team is made up of James Harkin, Andrew Hunter Murray, Anna Ptaszynski and Dan Schreiber.

James is a script editor on QI, with a dozen series and seven bestselling books under his belt. He has also appeared on TV quiz shows Fifteen to One and Only Connect, reaching the semi-finals in the latter and embarrassingly crashing out of the former.

Andrew is a writer and comedian who also contributes to Private Eye magazine. His first novel, The Last Day, will be published in spring 2020. His nickname among No Such Thing as a Fish fans is ‘Lightning’ (or so he claims).

Anna is a script editor on QI who has previously worked in Scottish politics and Australian advertising, as well as selling fruit wine and hay-baling in the Highlands. She refuses to join Twitter. #GetAnnaOnTwitter

Dan is a comedian and producer who co-created the award-winning BBC Radio 4 series The Museum of Curiosity; has fronted numerous TV shows, including his own Channel 4 documentary; and, as a stand-up, saw his debut show named at the time as one of the top 100 most favourably reviewed shows of the Edinburgh Fringe. He ranked 100th.