by John O'Farrell (Author)
It's a big night at the London Palladium. Jimmy Conway is about to perform his stand-up comedy routine in front of two thousand invited guests and millions live on TV. He steps out blinking into the spotlights and waits for the applause to die down. He tries to appear confident but he can't help wondering whether he should have shared his little secret with someone by now. Jimmy has never performed anything before-ever. How did he get here? Following the death of a national celebrity, the under-achieving Jimmy convinces a naive journalist that he is the latest comedy phenomenon. He then embarks on a series of misadventures, bluffing and stumbling his way up the celebrity ladder, discovering as he goes that in their desperation to be associated with the next big thing, nobody has bothered to check his credentials. Quicker than you can say "flavor of the month," Jimmy Conway becomes a bogus celebrity, winning an award for something he never did, being photographed in magazines posing in someone else's house, and ultimately fooling, and making a fool of, the entire celebrity industry. Sharp, witty, and hilarious, This Is Your Life is a funny, stinging look at our celebrity-obsessed society.