Tony Hawks

Biography:

Tony Hawks is the author of the bestseller Round Ireland with a Fridge - the story of his absurd quest to hitch round the circumference of Ireland within a month... with a fridge. After being serialised on Radio 4, the book became a top 10 Sunday Times bestseller. It has now sold over 800,000 copies worldwide including the US and Australia, and has been translated into several languages; Hebrew, Italian, Dutch and German. The book is now a feature film, and winner of the Paris Boulogne Billancourt Film Festival audience award. 

Tony has written four other books, including Playing the Moldovans at Tennis (also serialised on BBC R4 and shortlisted for both the Samuel Johnson Prize (2000) for non-fiction writing and the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize (2000), and also to be released a s a feature film the summer of 2012. Other books include One Hit Wonderland, A Piano in the Pyrenees, and The Fridgehiker's Guide To Life. 

He has appeared frequently on many TV shows including: Have I Got News For You, They Think It’s All Over, Paul Merton, A Bit of Fry and Laurie and Red Dwarf. Tony is also regular guest on radio programmes including The News Quiz, Just a Minute, and I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue.

Tony started out his life as a singer songwriter and his band Morris Minor and the Majors reached number 4 in the UK charts in 1988. Tony's career highlights so far include performing with Roger Daltrey at a Freddie Mercury tribute concert, arranging and MD'ing a musical set to the tunes of Beyonce, and sharing a cup of tea with his all time hero Jeff Beck. 

Tony is a regular after dinner speaker at corporate events up and down the country and his warm, dry style and aptitude for ad-libbing makes him a popular choice as a host for award ceremonies. He hosted The British Book Awards (The Nibbies) for three consecutive years, as well as numerous others. Alongside this, Tony can set up in the bar and entertain an audience through into the early hours with his cover band Tony and Jack.