En komikers uppväxt is a 1992 novel by Swedish writer Jonas Gardell.

[1][2] Loosely based on his own upbringing, the novel portrays a boy, Juha, struggling with acceptance and belonging in suburban Stockholm.

The novel was the basis of a 1992 Swedish TV miniseries in three parts, also called En komikers uppväxt.

On 13 April 2000,[clarification needed] the book was given as a gift from the National Agency for Education, Svenska förläggareföreningen and Månpocket to all eighth-grade pupils in Sweden before the World Book Day, which occurred on 23 April, but the giving was done earlier because of Easter.

[4][5] The movie highlights the racism and xenophobia of 1970s suburban Sweden as it emphasizes the foreign background of the three outcast kids: Jenny is played by a Chinese-Swedish girl, Thomas's mother is portrayed as German with a heavy accent and at one point girls are throwing Hitler salutes at her, and Juha's mother is Finnish as in all other versions.