New Boy has much authentic material in it that refers to actual incidents from his life at Haberdashers', although it would be going too far to call it "autobiographical".
[1] His next novel concerns a 10-year-old growing up in a North London suburb with his family, and the plot centres on the complex knot of his childhood friendships.
Sutcliffe's 2008 book Whatever Makes You Happy (2008) is about interfering mothers of men who refuse to grow up.
[4] More recently, Sutcliffe has been writing more humorous books for a younger audience, with his Circus of Thieves trilogy.
He was educated at Haberdashers' Aske's School and Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where he read English literature.