Swimming with the Goldfish

Nick grew up in 1950s–1970s Kent, where his homosexuality gradually dawned on him growing up as a child, through his life as a teenager and beyond. The theme running through this memoir is his relationship with his first loves between 1973 and 1986.

This explosive memoir reflects the social and political climate of those decades and the huge change in attitudes towards him and those like him. 

Full of anecdotes and descriptions of the music, fashion, and media of the time, it accurately and colourfully reflects the attitudes of society in the second half of the 20th century. It charts his beginnings as a teenager in a rock band followed by the early stages of his acting career. 

It includes his ten years working for MI5, including a two-year secondment to Belfast, then being unceremoniously ejected from that organisation solely because of his sexuality. 

It places him and the characters in his life in the context of the massive changes in society’s attitudes to gay people, from the middle ages through to the present day: a comprehensive summary of the history of gay rights in the UK and beyond.