Philip Kerr is a British author of both adult fiction and non-fiction, most notably the Bernie Gunther series of thrillers, and of children's books, particularly the Children of the Lamp series.

Born in Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

, Kerr was educated there and at a grammar school in Northampton

Northampton

Northampton is a large market town and local government district in the East Midlands region of England. Situated about north-west of London and around south-east of Birmingham, Northampton lies on the River Nene and is the county town of Northamptonshire. The demonym of Northampton is...

. He studied law at the University of Birmingham

University of Birmingham

The University of Birmingham is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Birmingham Medical School and Mason Science College . Birmingham was the first Redbrick university to gain a charter and thus...

 from 1974–1980, achieving a masters degree. Kerr worked as an advertising copywriter for Saatchi and Saatchi before becoming a full-time writer in 1989. He has written for the Sunday Times

The Sunday Times (UK)

The Sunday Times is a Sunday broadsheet newspaper, distributed in the United Kingdom. The Sunday Times is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News International, which is in turn owned by News Corporation. Times Newspapers also owns The Times, but the two papers were founded...

, the Evening Standard

Evening Standard

The Evening Standard, now styled the London Evening Standard, is a free local daily newspaper, published Monday–Friday in tabloid format in London. It is the dominant regional evening paper for London and the surrounding area, with coverage of national and international news and City of London...

and the New Statesman

New Statesman

New Statesman is a British centre-left political and cultural magazine published weekly in London. Founded in 1913, and connected with leading members of the Fabian Society, the magazine reached a circulation peak in the late 1960s....

.

Kerr has published novels as Philip Kerr and a children's series, Children of the Lamp, under the name P.B. Kerr.

Kerr is married to fellow novelist, Jane Thynne. They live in Wimbledon, London, and have three children: William, Charlie and Naomi.

Bernie Gunther

• "Berlin Noir" "Bernie Gunther" trilogy, republished 1993 by Penguin Books in one volume. ISBN 978-0-14-023170-0.
  • March Violets
    March Violets
    March Violets is a detective novel and the first written by Philip Kerr featuring detective Bernhard Gunther. Gunther investigates the murder of the daughter of a wealthy industrialist in Berlin as the 1936 Summer Olympics play out in the city...
    
    . London: Viking, 1989. ISBN 0-670-82431-3
  • The Pale Criminal
    The Pale Criminal
    The Pale Criminal is a detective novel and the second in the Berlin Noir trilogy of Bernhard Gunther novels written by Philip Kerr.-Plot overview:...
    
    . London: Viking, 1990. ISBN 0-670-82433-X
  • A German Requiem
    A German Requiem (novel)
    A German Requiem is a detective novel and the last in the Berlin Noir trilogy written by Philip Kerr.-Plot overview:After spending the latter part of the war in a Soviet prisoner-of-war camp, 1947 sees Bernhard Gunther now married to Kirsten, who seems to be trading sex with U.S. Army officers for...
    
    . London: Viking, 1991. ISBN 0-670-83516-1
• Later "Bernie Gunther" novels
  • The One From the Other. New York: Putnam, 2006. ISBN 978-0399152993
  • A Quiet Flame. London: Quercus, 2008. ISBN 978-1847243560
  • If The Dead Rise Not. London: Quercus, 2009. ISBN 978-1847249425
  • Field Grey. London: Quercus, 2010. ISBN 978-1849164122

• • Prague Fatale. London: Quercus, 2011 ISBN 978-1849164153

Stand alone novels

• A Philosophical Investigation
  A Philosophical Investigation
  A Philosophical Investigation is a 1992 techno-thriller by Philip Kerr.-Plot summary:In a near-future, a British neuroscientist named Professor Burgess Phelan has discovered a portion of the brain, the VMN, that is typically twice the size in men as it is in women...
  
  . London: Chatto & Windus, 1992. ISBN 0-7011-4553-6
• Dead Meat. London: Chatto & Windus, 1993. ISBN 0-7011-4703-2
• Gridiron (vt US The Grid). London: Chatto & Windus, 1995. ISBN 0-7011-6248-1
• Esau. London: Chatto & Windus, 1996. ISBN 0-7011-6281-3
• A Five Year Plan. London: Hutchinson, 1997. ISBN 0-09-180165-6
• The Second Angel
  The Second Angel
  The Second Angel is a science fiction novel by Scottish author Philip Kerr. The title of the book comes from a Bible quote, 'And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man'...
  
  . London: Orion, 1998. ISBN 0-7528-1443-5
• The Shot. London: Orion, 1999. ISBN 0-7528-1444-3
• Dark Matter: The Private Life of Sir Isaac Newton. New York: Crown, 2002. ISBN 0-609-60981-5
• Hitler's Peace. New York: Marian Wood, 2005. ISBN 0-399-15269-5

Non fiction

• The Penguin Book of Lies. 1991;1996
• The Penguin Book of Fights, Feuds and Heartfelt Hatreds: An Anthology of Antipathy. 1992;1993

Children of the Lamp

• The Akhenaten Adventure
  The Akhenaten Adventure
  The Akhenaten Adventure is a novel by P.B. Kerr and the first book of the Children of the Lamp series. It tells the story of John and Philippa Gaunt and their adventures of finding out they are djinn...
  
  . London: Scholastic Press, 2004. ISBN 0-439-96365-6
• The Blue Djinn of Babylon
  The Blue Djinn of Babylon
  The Blue Djinn of Babylon is a novel by P.B. Kerr which tells the second chapter of John and Philippa Gaunt and their adventures as djinn. It is the second book of the Children of the Lamp series...
  
  . London: Scholastic Press, 2005. ISBN 0-439-95950-0
• The Cobra King of Kathmandu
  The Cobra King of Kathmandu
  The Cobra King of Kathmandu is the third novel in the Children of the Lamp trilogy by P. B. Kerr. It was released in December 2006, in both the UK and USA.-References:* * *...
  
  . London: Scholastic Press, 2006. ISBN 0-439-95958-6
• The Day of the Djinn Warriors
  The Day of the Djinn Warriors
  The Day of the Djinn Warriors is the fourth installment of the Children of the Lamp series. The author, Philip Kerr, has said on his website that he is planning to write a total of six books although he hasn't decided what the titles of the remaining books will be.-Plot summary:Djinn twins, John...
  
  . London: Scholastic Press, 2007. ISBN 978-1-4071-0365-5
• The Eye of the Forest
  The Eye of the Forest
  -Summary:Mrs. Gaunt will be going to go to a plastic surgeon djinn named Dr. Kowalski to make Mrs. Gaunt's body look just like her former one. However, djinn can no longer ride whirlwinds safely because of global warming, so she has to fly down to the doctor in Brazil on a regular...
  
  . London: Scholastic Press, 2009. ISBN 978-0-439-93215-8
• The Five Fakirs of Faizabad. London: Scholastic Press, 2010.
• The Grave Robbers of Genghis Khan. London: Scholastic Press, 2011.

Stand alone fiction

• One Small Step. London: Simon & Schuster, 2008 (paper). ISBN 978-1-847383006

External links

• Official website
• Interview in Shotsmag Ezine 2011
• Book Review of Field Grey in Shotsmag Ezine
• Interview with Philip Kerr on Scene of the Crime blog, about Kerr's relationship with Berlin.