A memoir of growing up amidst a group of the most brilliant intellectuals of a generation - now in paperback

Shortlisted for the 2019 PEN Ackerley Prize

Gloucester Crescent is a curving, leafy street, tucked between Camden Town and Primrose Hill. It's unremarkable in many ways, unless you notice the lady in the van, and the familiar-looking residents crossing the road ...

This is the story of the Miller family and their circle of brilliant, idealistic and intellectual friends in London in the 60s, 70s and 80s. We follow William through the ups and downs of childhood, as he explores the homes of his famous neighbours, attends dramatic rehearsals with his dad Jonathan Miller, gets drugs and advice from the philosopher A. J. Ayer's wife, and tries to watch the moon landing with Alan Bennett and a room full of writers. Hilarious, and at times heart-breaking, this is also about how we grow up and move on - and what happens when we come back.

Not only a picture of an extraordinary time in Britain's cultural history - and a hitherto unseen portrait of some of the brightest minds of a generation - this book tells the funny, tender and moving story of a young boy trying to carve out his own identity.

William Miller is a television producer and media executive. He has worked with Uden Associates, Conde Nast and Nigella Lawson, becoming Nigella's business partner in producing her critically acclaimed cooking shows as well as managing her global brand business. Then, with BBC Worldwide, he partnered with high-profile talent including Louis Theroux, Kirsty Allsopp and Phil Spencer in order to build brands, businesses, and original programming. In 2014, he set up Raconteur, a new content and production development business which produces a range of ambitious factual entertainment shows. He is also working on a stage play about his father's friendship with Oliver Sacks. In 2009 William returned to Gloucester Crescent where he now lives, three doors from his parents, with his wife and two teenage daughters.

has a charm of its own. His portrait of his father, exasperated yet tinged with affection, is beautifully drawn, and he's particularly good at putting himself in his own childhood shoes.