Comedian John Robins has written his memoir. Thirst: Twelve Drinks That Changed My Life, will be published on the 7 May 2026 in hardback, priced £20 by Viking.
In Thirst, John tells the story of his life through the lens of alcohol, the drinks that made him, and those that broke him. From his earliest drinking experiences – pretending to be drunk after a sip of champagne aged five, spraying aftershave into his mouth at the school play afterparty, and university nights spent downing red wine alone in his room – to his last drink in 2022 and the journey into sobriety that followed, John explores our relationship with alcohol through reflections on decades of his own drinking.
From hazy memory to sudden clarity, he sheds light on subjects from mental health to friendship, from creativity to the lies we tell ourselves, and answers questions such as: are alcoholics born or made? How can we make sense of youthful missteps? And can Buddhism provide relief when dealing with haemorrhoids?
Filled with insights and epiphanies from the world of addiction and recovery, Thirst blends John’s trademark raw honesty and hilarious digressions with the collective wisdom of alcoholics and those around them to offer a compelling, powerful and morbidly funny narrative for anyone who has ever asked 'why do we drink?', 'why do I drink?' or 'do I drink too much?'.
John Robins says: "I wanted to find out what alcohol means. Other books about recovery from alcoholism tend to skip over what makes alcohol so addictive. They focus on the gory details of rock bottom and the freedom of sobriety. For me alcohol is mysterious, it is a shapeshifter and I wanted to sit with that mystery.
I wanted to explore why something that I know will kill me still calls out to me. I also wanted to describe what an alcoholic is. There are huge misconceptions about what makes someone an alcoholic – drinking strong lager on a park bench or drinking vodka in the morning. However, what alcoholism looks like is as varied as those who suffer from it, it's how it feels that is a shared experience.
And I wanted to find out if I could explore that experience with humour. Could I produce a book about wanting to drink yourself to death that would make people laugh? I also wanted to describe how I have developed tools to live life without alcohol, and what those tools are.
Above all, amongst the stories of throwing up in a strangers wedding reception and panic attacks and crying on the toilet and Jon Richardson's lamb cookery knocking me off the wagon, I hope this book is useful to people."
The book was acquired by Senior Commissioning Editor, Shyam Kumar, who is currently on parental leave. Daniel Crewe, Publishing Director of Viking Non Fiction, who is leading the project in Shyam's absence says: “Publishers often say that they seek to inform, inspire and entertain – but it’s rare that one book does all three, as THIRST does, so powerfully. John has managed to write a book that is extremely moving, laugh-out-loud funny and full of insights on addiction, depression, memory, technology, finding your tribe, the nature of change…and on situations from intimidating poetry readings to fiddly laptop repairs. John is not only a brilliant comedian, broadcaster and Taskmaster champion – he’s a fantastic author too.”
Pre-order Thirst here.
