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Kate Atkinson

ケイト・アトキンソン

Keito Atokin son

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1951-12-20 （York）
Nationality
British, English
Languages
English
Residence History
York, England → Dundee, Scotland → Edinburgh, Scotland

Career

Occupations
novelist, playwright, short story writer
Active Years
1995-2024
Memberships
Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
Nominations
CWA Gold Dagger 2009 (When Will There Be Good News?)

Education

University of Dundee
English literature
Degree: MA
Year of Graduation: 1974
Country: United Kingdom
Master's degree in English literature
University of Dundee
American literature
Country: United Kingdom
PhD candidacy, failed viva voce

Awards

Whitbread Book Award
1995
Work: Behind the Scenes at the Museum
Category: Book of the Year
Organization: Whitbread
Result: winner
Costa Book Award
2013
Work: Life After Life
Category: Novel
Organization: Costa Coffee
Result: winner
Costa Book Award
2015
Work: A God in Ruins
Category: Novel
Organization: Costa Coffee
Result: winner
Member of the Order of the British Empire
2011
Organization: British Monarchy
Result: awarded
Saltire Society Scottish Book of the Year
2005
Work: Case Histories
Organization: Saltire Society
Result: winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Behind the Scenes at the Museum

1995 historical novel

A tragicomic novel based on the childhood memories of Ruby Lennox, telling the story of a family during World War I and II.

familyhistorywar
Adaptations
  • [radio]
  • [stage]
  • [television] / Kate Atkinson (screenplay)

Case Histories

2004 detective novel

First novel featuring private investigator Jackson Brodie.

detectivecrimepast
Adaptations
  • [TV series] Case Histories (2011)

Life After Life

2013 historical fiction/science fiction

Ursula Todd dies and is reborn multiple times in 1910, her choices affecting history.

reincarnationhistorychoice
Adaptations
  • [TV drama] Life After Life (2022)

A God in Ruins

2015 historical novel

More realistic account of Ursula's brother Teddy Todd, an RAF pilot in WWII.

warfamilylife

Bibliography

  • Behind the Scenes at the Museum (1995)
  • Human Croquet (1997)
  • Emotionally Weird (2000)
  • Case Histories (2004)
  • One Good Turn (2006)
  • When Will There Be Good News? (2008)
  • Not the End of the World (2002)
  • Started Early, Took My Dog (2010)
  • Life After Life (2013)
  • A God in Ruins (2015)
  • Transcription (2018)
  • Big Sky (2019)
  • Shrines of Gaiety (2022)
  • Normal Rules Don't Apply (2023)
  • Death at the Sign of the Rook (2024)

Adaptations

  • Jackson Brodie series adapted as Case Histories TV series on BBC One

Style & Themes

Literary Style
postmodernmagical realismhistorical noveldetective novelfamily novelironic narrative
Recurring Motifs
role of chance in lifejusticehidden past eventsamnesiachronological play

Legacy

Kate Atkinson is a prominent British author who has won the Whitbread/Costa Book Awards multiple times. Known for blending historical, detective, and family novels with postmodern and magical realist elements. Her Jackson Brodie series was adapted for TV.

Academic Societies

  • Royal Society of Literature

In Popular Culture

  • Jackson Brodie series adapted into BBC's Case Histories
  • Life After Life adapted into 2022 BBC drama

Trivia

  • Only child, born out of wedlock
  • Has two children
  • Signed books at Edinburgh International Book Festival (2007)