Tom Killingbeck

Non-Fiction

What I’m looking for: I specialise in non-fiction, seeking fresh, expert perspectives on history, science, nature, politics, big ideas, smart thinking, economics, health, and the arts. I am particularly interested in writers who can open readers’ minds, improve their lives and help them see the world differently, whether that be through untold histories, ground-breaking science, or revelatory journalism. I'm always keen to find 'category killing' books that will remain the definitive work on a subject for a popular readership for a decade or more. I would love to hear from academics or public figures with a unique expertise, who are keen to find a mainstream audience for their ideas and writing. I welcome approaches from writers who are in the earliest stages of thinking about writing a nonfiction book. 

You can read about some (but not all!) of my recent deals on the Bookseller website

About me: I joined AM Heath as a literary agent in 2022, and was listed as a Bookseller Rising Star the following year. My first deal was for Zeinab Badawi's An African History of Africa, which sold for six figures and went on to become an instant Sunday Times bestseller. Previously I was an editorial director at Penguin and HarperCollins, where I worked with an eclectic group of authors including Dame Jane Goodall, John Preston, Bella Mackie, Isabel Hardman, Guy Shrubsole, Will Storr, Ed Caesar, Kathleen Hanna and The Modern House. I also helped to launch the 4thWrite Prize

I have worked with authors who have won or been shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize, the Costa Biography Award, the Royal Society Science Book Prize, the Telegraph Sports Book Award, the William Hill Sports Book of the Year, the Wainwright Prize, the PEN Ackerley Prize and the Penderyn Music Book Prize.

Twenty books from my shelf, old and new, to give you an idea of my personal taste and what I’m looking for:

SPQR by Mary Beard

Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain

Quiet by Susan Cain 

23 Things They Don’t Tell You About Capitalism by Ha-Joon Chang 

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates 

The Transgender Issue by Shon Faye

Capitalist Realism by Mark Fisher

Islands of Abandonment by Cal Flyn 

The Ruin of All Witches by Malcolm Gaskill 

The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and David Wengrow

Otherlands by Thomas Halliday

Leviathan by Philip Hoare  

A Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England by Ian Mortimer 

The History of White People by Nell Irvin Painter 

Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake 

The Living Mountain by Nan Shepherd 

Who Owns England? by Guy Shrubsole 

Spoon-Fed by Tim Spector 

Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Free by Lea Ypi

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