Losing It

Losing It has been shortlisted for the PG Woodhouse Comedy Literary Prize as well as The Edinburgh First Book Award 2015.Millie was at one time quite well known for various TV and radio appearances. However, she now has no money, a best friend with a better sex life than her, a daughter in Papua New Guinea and too much weight in places she really doesn't want it.When she's asked to be the front woman for a new diet pill, she naively believes that all her troubles will be solved. She will have money, the weight will be gone, and maybe she'll get more sex.If only life was really that easy. It doesn't take her long to realize it's going to take more than a diet pill to solve her never-ending woes...Losing It is the hilarious debut from Helen Lederer, one of the UK's favourite comediennes.

Helen is probably best known for her role as the dippy Catriona in Absolutely Fabulous, in which she appeared alongside Jennifer Saunders in all six series of the show, as well as for creating the 'girl at the bar' in Naked Video.However, to many she is known for her unique brand of wit and observational humour. A comedy writer with an extensive portfolio that includes writing and performing her own material, Helen has starred in a great number of top TV comedy and radio shows.Helen was part of a group of early 1980s comedians, including French and Saunders, the late Rik Mayall, andBen Elton, who made their names at London's famous Comedy Store. She was a guest on ITV's Saturday Night Live with her solo comedy act, as well as performing at the first Just for Laughs comedy festival in Montreal along with Lenny Henry. TV appearances span such shows as The Young Ones, French and Saunders, Happy Families, One Foot in the Grave, Bottom, Love Soup, Miss Marple, Casualty and Hollyoaks. She plays Miss Bowline-Hitch alongside Bernard Cribbins in the much loved children's TV series Old Jack's Boat. Helen also played Rich Aunt Ruby in Horrid Henry: The Movie. On BBC radio, she has been a regular panellist on shows including Just a Minute, Quote . . . Unquote, Open Book, A Good Read and Woman's Hour, as well as writing and performing in two of her own comedy series, All Change and Life with Lederer. Her columns include Woman & Home, the Independent, the Mail on Sunday and the Daily Telegraph, and she is currently the 'agony aunt' for Woman's Weekly. Helen's comedy books include Coping with Helen Lederer and Single Minding.She's done a variety of theatre work, following hot on the heels of Julie Walters in Educating Rita, playingDoreen in Alan Bleasdale's Having a Ball, as well as appearing in The Vagina Monologues, Calendar Girls andThe Killing of Sister George in London's West End, interspersed with many fringe theatre plays.