Anti-Social

A gruesome and darkly comic insight into the life of a ASB Officer. Think Adam Kay's This is Going to Hurt but with more dead bodies (and not just human ones) and an abundance of cat shit. It's a gloriously cynical read but it's also sympathetic and deeply empathetic. Being an ASB Officer comes across as one of those "rotten but somebody's got to do it jobs" and I was glad that in these cases, that that somebody was the author.

Kathy Burke

Superb. This hysterically funny and moving memoir of an anti-social behaviour officer is a real eye-opener that hits all the right notes

Frankie Boyle

A riveting and brilliantly written memoir . . . There is a human story on every page to make you cry with sorrow, cry with laughter or curl your toes in horror (often all three at once). The result is a potent cocktail of heartbreak and horror; wickedly funny, wearily endearing and absolutely enraging.

Caroline Sanderson, Bookseller

A funny, thoughtful look into one of the toughest jobs I can imagine.

Shappi Khorsandi

I absolutely loved it. It reads like a novel, has that page turning quality everyone looks for in a good book but it delivers the punch that only true life can - funny obviously but with humanity and warmth for people at the edges of society most in need of our understanding and compassion.

Kit de Waal, author of My Name Is Leon

Brilliant. This deserves to be a huge success - funny, sad and heartbreaking

Lorraine Kelly

Stories of tragedy and comedy from the social housing frontline . . . Shocking . . . Laugh-out-loud funny. The delivery is punchy and the humour dark - think Irvine Welsh minus the Scottish vernacular . . . The reader is taken from pathos to snort-inducing comedy and back again in just two sentences

Express

Extraordinary, fascinating, very moving and very funny

Christine Lampard, ITV's Lorraine

It's really interesting . . . Really important

Naga Munchetty, BBC Breakfast

Combining snark with sensitivity, Nick's increasing cynicism and depression add an extra dash of gallows humour to situations which are anything but funny.

S Magazine, Sunday Express

[An] enjoyable and valuable read that should generate justified appreciation for public servants trying to sort out some of society's more intractable problems.

Evening Standard

Following in the footsteps of Adam Kay and The Secret Barrister, Pettigrew delivers an entertaining and informative account of his career as a much-harassed anti-social behaviour officer. Hilarious and enraging in equal measure, Anti-Social documents a world of obnoxious neighbours and damaged individuals with wit, compassion and righteous anger

Waterstones.com

This story of what it's like to do one of the UK's hardest gigs is a witty page-turner on the one hand, a shocking indictment of austerity on the other. Blackly comic, it will make you rage, weep and laugh out loud - sometimes in the space of a paragraph.

Marina O'Loughlin

A fascinating insight into a job that stitches together the cracks in compassion in our communities

Renni Eddo-Lodge, author of Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race

Anti-Social is brutally honest, exceptionally funny and terribly sad - a scything indictment of broken 21st century Britain. I could not put it down.

The Secret Barrister

This is a wonderful book. Full of heart and humour and the genuine care for people going through a hard time runs through it.

Nesrine Malik, author of We Need New Stories

This is a fantastic book. You should buy it immediately.

Lucy Porter

A tremendous read. A year in the life of an Anti-Social Behaviour officer. It's bracing stuff, brilliantly written. Thankfully Nick is a funny writer because it's a bitter pill to swallow at times. Highly recommended.

Moose Allain

A really entertaining read.

Sanjeev Bhaskar

A fascinating man with a fascinating story. Get this book. So dark but also funny and well written . . . It's been a real eyeopener reading this book. Poignant and empathetic, caring and silly in a few places. In equal parts devastating and dark and incredibly funny.

Nihal Arthanayake

Horrifying, funny, important . . . Really great - an insight into another world, in the same vein as This is Going to Hurt and The Secret Barrister.

Bookseller, Ones to Watch