Critical mass

Comedy screenwriter Adam Kay’s memoir of his years as a junior doctor in Britain’s NHS is a riot of oddball characters and inexplicable situations. But his old line of work comes with a dark side, writes Tanya Sweeney

Adam Kay: ‘Everyone has a certain degree of armour, and mine wasn’t big enough to cope’ Pic: Getty

Given that it’s set largely in the various gynaecology and maternity departments of hospitals across London, Adam Kay’s medical memoir features a cornucopia of unforgettable characters. In This Is Going To Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor, you’ll meet the man who had a condom-covered remote control in a bodily cavity he perhaps shouldn’t have; and the couple who, unknown to them, gazumped Kay when buying a London flat (he exacted his ...