[6] Two days before the publication date in London, a launch party was held at the headquarters of the Institute of Directors, attended by James Cleverly, Michael Gove, Kit Malthouse, Jacob Rees-Mogg, Priti Patel, Grant Shapps, and Ben Wallace among others.

"[13][14] The book contains several revelations: that he considered a military raid on The Netherlands to secure the release of Oxford–AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine doses,[6][11][15][16] that he himself became seriously ill with Covid and "might have carked it" but for the care he received in hospital,[15][16][17] that on a request, he vainly attempted to dissuade Prince Harry from leaving the UK by means of a "manly pep talk",[16][18][19] and that he considers it possible that a listening device found in his personal toilet at the Foreign Office in 2017 had been placed there by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"[23] Under the headline "Memoirs of a clown", the reviewer for The Guardian noted that Johnson "does not do reflective" and called the book "entertaining but ... irritating for its lack of structure".

[10] Reviewing the book for The New Statesman, Nicola Sturgeon, the former Scottish First Minister, characterised it as "not as bad as I thought it would be" but too unserious: "There is nothing that he won't make a crass joke about if it serves his narrative purpose.

[11][10] The reviewer for The Telegraph gave it five stars, praising Johnson's writing but noting that "the games with words ... can distract" and that the book offers little insight into his "inner life".