Book Series Guide
David Nicholls

Author guide

David Nicholls Books in Order

David Nicholls is a British novelist and screenwriter. After training and working as an actor, he became a writer for film and television before publishing six novels: Starter for Ten, The Understudy, One Day, Us, Sweet Sorrow, and You Are Here. His fiction frequently explores love, friendship, class, family, loneliness, and adulthood with wit and emotional precision.

contemporary fictionromancecomedyliterary fiction

Catalog record updated .

David Nicholls's Newest Book

Cover of You Are Here

You Are Here

novel · First published 2024

Michael is coming undone. Adrift after his wife's departure, he has begun taking himself on long, solitary walks across the English countryside. Becoming ever more reclusive, he’ll do anything to avoid his empty house. Marnie, on the other hand, is stuck. Hiding alone in her London flat, she avoids old friends and any reminders of her rotten, selfish ex-husband. Curled up with a good book, she’s battling the long afternoons of a life that feels like it’s passing her by. When a persistent mutual friend and some very unpredictable weather conspire to toss Michael and Marnie together on the most epic of ten-day hikes, neither of them can think of anything worse. Until, of course, they discover exactly what they’ve been looking for. Michael and Marnie are on the precipice of a bright future . . . if they can survive the journey. A hilarious, hopeful, and heartwarming love story—the novel belovedNew York Times bestselling author David Nicholls calls “my funniest book yet”—You Are Here is a bittersweet and hopeful story of first encounters, second chances, and finding the way home.

Not sure where to begin?

Start with one of these

Cover of Starter for Ten

Starter for Ten

The first published novel and a natural chronological starting point for Nicholls's fiction.

Cover of One Day

One Day

His most widely known novel and a representative entry point into his themes of love, friendship, and time.

Outside the series

Bibliography by category

Novels (6)
  1. Starter for Ten

    novel · 2003

    It's 1985 and Brian Jackson has arrived at university with a burning ambition - to make it onto TV's foremost general knowledge quiz. But no sooner has he embarked on 'The Challenge' than he finds himself falling hopelessly in love with…

  2. The Understudy

    novel · 2005

  3. One Day

    novel · 2009

    It’s 1988 and Dexter Mayhew and Emma Morley have only just met. But after only one day together, they cannot stop thinking about one another. Over twenty years, snapshots of that relationship are revealed on the same day—July 15th—of each…

  4. Us

    novel · 2014

    Now a PBS Masterpiece television miniseries starring Tom Hollander and Saskia Reeves “I loved this book. Funny, sad, tender: for anyone who wants to know what happens after the Happy Ever After.” — Jojo Moyes, author of Me Before You…

  5. Sweet Sorrow

    novel · 2019

    ⭐ Now in ebook and paperback: David Nicholls's new novel You Are Here ⭐ Sweet Sorrow: a novel of first love, set during a long, hot summer where life changes forever... 'Fizzing' GUARDIAN 'A glorious escape' FINANCIAL TIMES 'Exquisite'…

  6. You Are Here

    novel · 2024

    Michael is coming undone. Adrift after his wife's departure, he has begun taking himself on long, solitary walks across the English countryside. Becoming ever more reclusive, he’ll do anything to avoid his empty house. Marnie, on the…

Frequently asked questions about David Nicholls

Who is David Nicholls?

David Nicholls is a British novelist and screenwriter, born in 1966. He studied Drama and English at the University of Bristol, which awarded him an honorary Doctor of Letters in 2016.

Source: bristol.ac.uk (opens in a new tab)

What did David Nicholls do before becoming a full-time writer?

He trained as an actor at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York and worked as an actor for eight years, including at the Royal National Theatre. He later became a television script editor before moving into full-time writing.

Source: bristol.ac.uk (opens in a new tab)

What literary influences shaped David Nicholls’s writing?

Nicholls has cited writers including Lorrie Moore, Elizabeth Strout, J.D. Salinger, James Salter, and Philip Roth. His study of Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles also helped inspire One Day.

Sources: theguardian.com (opens in a new tab)theguardian.com (opens in a new tab)

What awards has David Nicholls won?

He won UK Author of the Year at the 2014 National Book Awards for Us and the 2019 BAFTA Television Craft Award for Writer: Drama for Patrick Melrose. In 2024, You Are Here won the Fiction category at the Books Are My Bag Readers Awards.

Sources: theguardian.com (opens in a new tab)bafta.org (opens in a new tab)booksellers.org.uk (opens in a new tab)

Why is David Nicholls considered influential in contemporary fiction?

Nicholls is notable for combining emotionally candid relationship fiction with a substantial screenwriting career. One Day became a major international bestseller and reached new audiences through both a 2011 film and a 2024 Netflix adaptation.

Sources: theguardian.com (opens in a new tab)theguardian.com (opens in a new tab)