A Mind of My Own

Author: Kathy Burke

Autobiography: arts & entertainment

Published on 23 October 2025 by Simon & Schuster Ltd (Gallery) in the United Kingdom.

Hardback | 304 pages, colour plates
159 x 241 x 25 | 478g

THE INSTANT BESTSELLER'Vivid, bright and beautiful' – Guardian'Wonderful. I wish I'd written it – I couldn't put it down' Miriam MargolyesKathy Burke is one of Britain's most distinctive voices. Even as a fearless kid in Islington, she did things her own way; roaming the estate that raised her to find her own path. A place at the Anna Scher Theatre in her teens changed the course of her life, and she found unimaginable success as an actress and writer – and national fame. But the rare gift that has always set her apart, beyond the stage or screen, is her ability to see the truth and tell it like it is.

This spellbinding memoir is not just Kathy's story, but the story of her class, her gender and her time.

A Mind of My Own is funny, profound and deeply entertaining.

'This is a book about being raised as a feral, motherless child; starting work at 17; immortalising several of this country’s most endearing catchphrases; triumphing at Cannes; being told you’re a genius by Peter Cook; and, at one party, accidentally taking some of Shaun Ryder’s crack, then attempting to set fire to a woman’s arse' – Caitlin Moran, Times Magazine'Glorious, very funny and no-nonsense, just like Kathy Burke' – Jo Brand