Knocking Peter Kay down to No 4

Lee Evans has knocked Peter Kay off the top of the hardback bestseller chart, after selling an impressive 16,000 copies in its first week of release.

The Life Of Lee was released just over a week ago, on so-called Super Thursday when a glut of pre-Christmas titles are released.

It means the Sunday Times bestseller list is now dominated by comedians, who take five of the top six slots, proving that the comic memoir remains a lucrative genre for publishers.

At number two in the list is James Corden’s biography, May I Have Your Attention, Please, which sold more than 12,000 copies in its first week, and at number 3 is the official companion to ITV’s Downton Abbey.

Kay’s Book That’s More Than Just A Book Book sold another 5,700 copies last week - bringing its total sales to a shade under 17,000, and placing it No 4 in the list.

It’s followed by Pam Ayres’s biography The Necessary Aptitude and Alan Partridge’s I, Partridge: We Need To Talk About Alan, which sold just under 5,000 copies in its first week.

And in the paperback chart, Karl Pilkington’s An Idiot Abroad retains the No1 slot.

Click here to buy Life Of Lee.