
A Class Act
Life as a working-class man in a middle-class world
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $20.32
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Rob Beckett
-
By:
-
Rob Beckett
About this listen
‘Pacy, witty and affectionate’ Guardian
Rob Beckett never seems to fit in. At work, in the middle-class world of television and comedy, he’s the laddie, cockney geezer, but to his mates down the pub in south-east London, he’s the theatrical one, a media luvvie. Even at home, his wife and kids are posher than him.
In this hilarious exploration of class, Rob compares his life growing up as a working-class kid to the life he lives now, trying to understand where he truly belongs.
Will he always be that fat kid who was told he’d never be a high-flyer? Why does he feel ashamed if he does anything vaguely middle class? Will he ever favour craft beer over lager? What happens if you eat 50 olives and drink two bottles of champagne? Why is ‘boner’ such a funny word?
In search of answers, Rob relives the moments in his life when the class divide couldn’t be more obvious. Whether it’s the gig for rich bankers that was worse than Matt Hancock hosting the GQ Men of the Year Awards, turning up at a swanky celebrity house party with a blue bag of cans from the offy or identifying the root of his ambition as a childhood incident involving soiled pants and Jurassic Park, Rob digs deep.
A Class Act is his funny, candid and often moving account of what it feels like to be an outsider and the valuable (sometimes humiliating) life lessons he’s learned along the way.
©2021 Rob Becket (P)2021 HarperCollins Publishers LimitedListeners also enjoyed...
-
Watching Neighbours Twice a Day...
- How ’90s TV (Almost) Prepared Me for Life
- By: Josh Widdicombe
- Narrated by: James Acaster, Josh Widdicombe
- Length: 9 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In his first memoir, Josh Widdicombe tells the story of a strange rural childhood, the kind of childhood he only realised was weird when he left home and started telling people about it. From only having four people in his year at school, to living in a family home where they didn't just not bother to lock the front door, they didn't even have a key. Using a different television show of the time as its starting point for each chapter, Watching Neighbours Twice a Day... is part-childhood memoir, part-comic history of '90s television and culture.
-
-
Loved learning about the shows in the UK
- By ASHLEY on 09-25-21
By: Josh Widdicombe
-
James Acaster's Guide to Quitting Social Media
- By: James Acaster
- Narrated by: James Acaster
- Length: 6 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is a self help-book like no other. Because you are not helping yourself, James Acaster is helping you. When James quit all forms of social media in 2019 he felt like he'd been born anew, but he was worried he'd suffer withdrawal and get lured back online to compete in a never ending popularity contest with only one possible winner (f--king Zuckerberg). He knew that in order to stay clean he'd have to replace everything social media used to give him with three-dimensional real-life activities.
-
-
Trouble with tar.
- By Anonymous User on 08-20-22
By: James Acaster
-
Before & Laughter
- By: Jimmy Carr
- Narrated by: Jimmy Carr
- Length: 6 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In his mid-20s, Jimmy was bored, boring, unfulfilled and underachieving. He wasn't exactly depressed, but he was very sad. Think of a baby owl whose mum has recently died in a windmill accident. He was that sad. This audiobook tells the story of how Jimmy turned it around and got happy, through the redemptive power of dick jokes.
-
-
didn't realize what I was getting into
- By Doug Scheiber on 10-16-21
By: Jimmy Carr
-
As Good as It Gets
- Life Lessons from a Reluctant Adult
- By: Romesh Ranganathan
- Narrated by: Romesh Ranganathan
- Length: 5 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Confronted by the realities of adulthood, Romesh Ranganathan must face an uncomfortable truth: this is not quite how he imagined it. Watching his friends descend into middle age, his waistline thicken and his finances dwindle to fund his family’s middle class aspirations, Romesh reflects on the demands of daily life and the challenges of adulting in the modern world.
-
-
Great listen
- By Mark on 10-13-23
-
And Away...
- By: Bob Mortimer
- Narrated by: Bob Mortimer
- Length: 7 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bob Mortimer’s life was trundling along happily until suddenly in 2015 he was diagnosed with a heart condition that required immediate surgery and forced him to cancel an upcoming tour. The episode unnerved him but forced him to reflect on his life so far. This is the framework for his hilarious and moving memoir, And Away....
-
-
Why censor an autobiography? Please don’t do that.
- By Paul B on 02-07-22
By: Bob Mortimer
-
James Acaster's Classic Scrapes
- By: James Acaster
- Narrated by: James Acaster
- Length: 6 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
James Acaster has been nominated for the Edinburgh Comedy Award five times and has appeared on prime-time TV shows like Mock the Week, Live at the Apollo and Russell Howard's Stand Up Central. But behind the fame and critical acclaim is a man perpetually getting into trouble. Whether it's disappointing a skydiving instructor midflight or hiding from thugs in a bush wearing a bright red dress, James is always finding new ways to embarrass himself.
-
-
Tales worth listening to.
- By Brendan S. on 01-31-18
By: James Acaster
-
Watching Neighbours Twice a Day...
- How ’90s TV (Almost) Prepared Me for Life
- By: Josh Widdicombe
- Narrated by: James Acaster, Josh Widdicombe
- Length: 9 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In his first memoir, Josh Widdicombe tells the story of a strange rural childhood, the kind of childhood he only realised was weird when he left home and started telling people about it. From only having four people in his year at school, to living in a family home where they didn't just not bother to lock the front door, they didn't even have a key. Using a different television show of the time as its starting point for each chapter, Watching Neighbours Twice a Day... is part-childhood memoir, part-comic history of '90s television and culture.
-
-
Loved learning about the shows in the UK
- By ASHLEY on 09-25-21
By: Josh Widdicombe
-
James Acaster's Guide to Quitting Social Media
- By: James Acaster
- Narrated by: James Acaster
- Length: 6 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is a self help-book like no other. Because you are not helping yourself, James Acaster is helping you. When James quit all forms of social media in 2019 he felt like he'd been born anew, but he was worried he'd suffer withdrawal and get lured back online to compete in a never ending popularity contest with only one possible winner (f--king Zuckerberg). He knew that in order to stay clean he'd have to replace everything social media used to give him with three-dimensional real-life activities.
-
-
Trouble with tar.
- By Anonymous User on 08-20-22
By: James Acaster
-
Before & Laughter
- By: Jimmy Carr
- Narrated by: Jimmy Carr
- Length: 6 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In his mid-20s, Jimmy was bored, boring, unfulfilled and underachieving. He wasn't exactly depressed, but he was very sad. Think of a baby owl whose mum has recently died in a windmill accident. He was that sad. This audiobook tells the story of how Jimmy turned it around and got happy, through the redemptive power of dick jokes.
-
-
didn't realize what I was getting into
- By Doug Scheiber on 10-16-21
By: Jimmy Carr
-
As Good as It Gets
- Life Lessons from a Reluctant Adult
- By: Romesh Ranganathan
- Narrated by: Romesh Ranganathan
- Length: 5 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Confronted by the realities of adulthood, Romesh Ranganathan must face an uncomfortable truth: this is not quite how he imagined it. Watching his friends descend into middle age, his waistline thicken and his finances dwindle to fund his family’s middle class aspirations, Romesh reflects on the demands of daily life and the challenges of adulting in the modern world.
-
-
Great listen
- By Mark on 10-13-23
-
And Away...
- By: Bob Mortimer
- Narrated by: Bob Mortimer
- Length: 7 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bob Mortimer’s life was trundling along happily until suddenly in 2015 he was diagnosed with a heart condition that required immediate surgery and forced him to cancel an upcoming tour. The episode unnerved him but forced him to reflect on his life so far. This is the framework for his hilarious and moving memoir, And Away....
-
-
Why censor an autobiography? Please don’t do that.
- By Paul B on 02-07-22
By: Bob Mortimer
-
James Acaster's Classic Scrapes
- By: James Acaster
- Narrated by: James Acaster
- Length: 6 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
James Acaster has been nominated for the Edinburgh Comedy Award five times and has appeared on prime-time TV shows like Mock the Week, Live at the Apollo and Russell Howard's Stand Up Central. But behind the fame and critical acclaim is a man perpetually getting into trouble. Whether it's disappointing a skydiving instructor midflight or hiding from thugs in a bush wearing a bright red dress, James is always finding new ways to embarrass himself.
-
-
Tales worth listening to.
- By Brendan S. on 01-31-18
By: James Acaster
-
No Shame
- By: Tom Allen
- Narrated by: Tom Allen
- Length: 5 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
No Shame is a very funny, candid and emotional ride of a memoir by one of our most beloved comedians. The working-class son of a coach driver and the youngest member of the Noel Coward Society, Tom Allen grew up in '90s suburbia as the eternal outsider. In these hilarious, honest and heart-breaking stories Tom recalls observations on childhood, his adolescence, the family he still lives with and his attempts to come out and negotiate the gay dating scene. They are written with his trademark caustic wit and warmth, and will entertain, surprise and move you in equal measure.
-
-
Cried laughing
- By Jennifer Bradbury on 06-16-21
By: Tom Allen
-
Perfect Sound Whatever
- By: James Acaster
- Narrated by: James Acaster
- Length: 6 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
James Acaster wakes up heartbroken and alone in New York, his relationship over, a day of disastrous meetings leading him to wonder if comedy is really what he wants to be doing anymore. A constant comfort in James' life has been music, but he's not listened to anything new for a very long time. Idly browsing 'best of the year' lists, it dawns on him that 2016 may have been a grim year for a lot of reasons, but that it seemed to be an iconic year for music. And so begins a life-changing musical odyssey, as James finds himself desperately seeking solace in the music of 2016....
-
-
BEST BOOK ABOUT 2016 IN 2019
- By sophie on 08-29-19
By: James Acaster
-
Unruly
- The Ridiculous History of England's Kings and Queens
- By: David Mitchell
- Narrated by: David Mitchell
- Length: 11 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Unruly, David Mitchell explores how early England’s monarchs, while acting as feared rulers firmly guiding their subjects’ destinies, were in reality a bunch of lucky bastards who were mostly as silly and weird in real life as they appear today in their portraits.
-
-
Hugely Entertaining (If You Like English History)
- By Jean Ogg on 10-09-23
By: David Mitchell
-
Mack the Life
- By: Lee Mack
- Narrated by: Lee Mack
- Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Where do comedians come from? Why is it that one person is a funny bloke down the pub while another actually makes a living by standing up in front of an audience telling jokes? And where does all that material come from? Well, young Lee McKillop used to wonder that too. Growing up in his parents’ pub, small and wiry in a world of bigger and chunkier specimens, Lee quickly learned that cracking jokes was a way to get attention.
-
-
Enjoyable memoir
- By Susannah on 03-22-25
By: Lee Mack
-
David Mitchell: Back Story
- By: David Mitchell
- Narrated by: David Mitchell
- Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
David Mitchell, who you may know for his inappropriate anger on every TV panel show except Never Mind the Buzzcocks, his look of permanent discomfort on C4 sex comedy Peep Show, his online commenter-baiting in The Observer or just for wearing a stick-on moustache in That Mitchell and Webb Look, has written a book about his life.
-
-
One of the Funniest, Clever Brits around
- By Delia on 08-30-13
By: David Mitchell
-
How to Survive Family Holidays
- By: Jack Whitehall, Michael Whitehall, Hilary Whitehall
- Narrated by: Hilary Whitehall, Jack Whitehall, Michael Whitehall
- Length: 7 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
No one family has more experience of travelling together than the Whitehalls. Indeed they've been allowing us a window to their escapades for the past five years in the hit Netflix show Travels with My Father, and in this hilarious book, they have now decided to pool their advice for fellow travellers. To lay out the pitfalls of family holidays. The dos and don'ts, the highs and lows. In doing so, they are sharing some of their best anecdotes.
-
-
Funny and entertaining
- By Miranda on 11-28-21
By: Jack Whitehall, and others
-
Ayoade on Top
- By: Richard Ayoade
- Narrated by: Richard Ayoade
- Length: 4 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At last, the definitive audiobook about perhaps the best cabin crew dramedy ever filmed: View from the Top starring Gwyneth Paltrow. In Ayoade on Top, Richard Ayoade, perhaps one of the most 'insubstantial' people of our age, takes us on a journey from Peckham to Paris by way of Nevada and other places we don't care about. It's a journey deep within, in a way that's respectful and non-invasive; a journey for which we will all pay a heavy price, even if you've waited for the smaller paperback edition. Ayoade argues for the canonisation of this brutal masterpiece.
-
-
Listened for an hour and a half, didn't laugh once
- By Wesley on 12-13-19
By: Richard Ayoade
-
Beyond the Wand
- The Magic and Mayhem of Growing Up a Wizard
- By: Tom Felton
- Narrated by: Tom Felton
- Length: 6 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tom Felton’s adolescence was anything but ordinary. His early rise to fame in beloved films like The Borrowers catapulted him into the limelight, but nothing could prepare him for what was to come after he landed the iconic role of the Draco Malfoy, the bleached blonde villain of the Harry Potter movies. For the next ten years, he was at the center of a huge pop culture phenomenon and yet, in between filming, he would go back to being a normal teenager trying to fit into a normal school. Speaking with great candor and his signature humor, Tom shares his experience.
-
-
So enjoyable
- By Lisa Suit on 10-22-22
By: Tom Felton
-
Strong Female Character
- By: Fern Brady
- Narrated by: Fern Brady
- Length: 6 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Scottish comedian Fern Brady was told she couldn't be autistic because she'd had loads of boyfriends and is good at eye contact. In this frank and surreal memoir, she delivers a sharp and often hilarious portrait of neurodivergence and living unmasked.
-
-
Buy. This.
- By Matt Morton on 06-10-23
By: Fern Brady
-
How to be Champion
- An Autobiography
- By: Sarah Millican
- Narrated by: Sarah Millican
- Length: 6 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Part autobiography, part self-help, part confession, part celebration of being a common-or-garden woman, part collection of synonyms for nunny, Sarah Millican's debut audiobook delves into her super normal life with daft stories, funny tales and proper advice on how to get past life's blips - like being good at school but not good at friends, the excitement of IBS and how to blossom postdivorce.
-
-
Disappointing but probably my fault
- By David on 03-02-18
By: Sarah Millican
-
Glutton
- The Multi-Course Life of a Very Greedy Boy
- By: Ed Gamble
- Narrated by: Ed Gamble, Nish Kumar
- Length: 6 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From a young age, Ed Gamble's immaculate bibs and extremely dirty nappies hinted at his capacious appetite. Before he could walk, Ed already knew that he preferred poached salmon to puree, that celery was a calorie-sapping waste of time, and that mashed potatoes should be made with lashings of butter. Whilst he might ordinarily have been upset by the calls of 'precocious little s--t' coming from his family, he was too busy stuffing his gob and staging rebellions against the patronising list of misery that is a children's menu.
-
-
Great listen!
- By Amazon Customer on 05-13-24
By: Ed Gamble
-
Just Ignore Him
- A BBC Two Between the Covers book club pick
- By: Alan Davies
- Narrated by: Alan Davies
- Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Through even the joyous and innocent memories, the pain of Davies' lifelong grief and profound betrayal is unfiltered, searing and beautifully articulated. Just Ignore Him is not only an autobiography, it is a testament to a survivor's resilience and courage.
-
-
This is my five-star this year
- By Kristofer Jarl on 11-18-20
By: Alan Davies
Critic reviews
‘Pacy, witty and affectionate’ Guardian
What listeners say about A Class Act
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Matt
- 02-25-23
Excellent audiobook
Excellent audiobook and narration, the author’s writing was spot on and engaging. I recommend this book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 04-13-23
Amazing
Genuinely one of the best books I've had the pleasure of experiencing. Get this. It's worth it.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Michael Davis
- 12-11-21
Very insightful and revealing narrative
I come from a similar background to Rob and throughout the book I wondered why he was so hooked up on being ‘working class’, something I never experienced.
In the end he gave an extremely insightful opinion as to why. I won’t spoil it, but it suddenly all made perfect sense.
A really entertaining book from a bloke I once saw down the pub but was too insecure to say hello to!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Adrienne Warg
- 04-20-22
Excellent!!
I love Rob Beckett! He’s hilarious. It was so interesting to learn more about him as a person. I was surprised to find how much I could relate to. As an American woman, you wouldn’t think we would have too much in common but it just goes to show when you write from the heart and are honest about your life experience, as Rob has done here, it can’t help but resonate with a wide variety of people. Thanks for making me laugh!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- jay
- 02-03-22
Must Own!!
Absolutely love this Audio Book! Even being from The United States you can relate even know we are from different Countries
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Steve
- 08-22-23
funny and interesting
if you are a fan of Rob, you will not be disappointed. This book is funny and interesting.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!