Born on September 26, 1961, in London, England; son of Peter (a college professor) and Elaine (a publisher) Self; married Kate Chancellor, June 13, 1990 (divorced, 1996); married Deborah Orr (an editor), 1997; children: (first marriage) Alexia and Madeleine; (second marriage) Ivan and Luther. Education: Attended Christ's College and Exeter College, Oxford University, 1979-92, received M.A. (with honors). Addresses: Home: London, England. Agent: Tracy Bohan, The Wylie Agency, 17 Bedford Sq., London WC1B 3JA, England.

• Slump, Virgin Books (London, England), 1985.
• Junk Mail (collected journalism), Bloomsbury (London, England), 1995.
• The Rock of Crack as Big as the Ritz, Penguin (London, England), 1995.
• Scale, Penguin (London, England), 1995.
• Cybersex, Robinson Publishing (London, England), 1996.
• A Story for Europe, Bloomsbury (London, England), 1996.
• Great Apes, Grove Press (New York, NY), 1997.
• The Mammoth Book of New Erotica, Carroll & Graf (London, England), 1998.
• (With others) Nicola Hicks, Momentum, 1999.
• (With Howard Marks and Ken Kesey) The "Idler": For Those Who Live to Loaf, Volume 25, Idle Ltd., 1999.
• How the Dead Live, Grove Press (New York, NY), 2000.
• Perfidious Man, Viking (London, England), 2000.
• Sore Sites, Ellipsis London (London, England), 2000.
• (With others) Spacebomb: Martin Richardson Holographics--1980-2000, THIS Limited Publications, 2000.
• (With Stephen Levinson) Antony Gormley: Some of the Facts, Tate Gallery (London, England), 2001.
• Feeding Frenzy (collected journalism), Penguin (New York, NY), 2002.
• Dorian: An Imitation, Grove Press (New York, NY), 2003.
• The Book of Dave, Bloomsbury (London, England), 2006.
• Psychogeography: Disentangling the Modern Conundrum of Psyche and Place, Bloomsbury (London, England), 2007.
• The Butt: An Exit Strategy, Bloomsbury (London, England), 2008.

• My Idea of Fun: A Cautionary Tale, Bloomsbury (London, England), 1993, Atlantic Monthly Press (New York, NY), 1994.
• The Sweet Smell of Psychosis, illustrated by Martin Rowson, Bloomsbury (London, England), 1996, Grove Press (New York, NY), 1999.

• The Quantity Theory of Insanity, Bloomsbury (London, England), 1991, Atlantic Monthly Press (New York, NY), 1995.
• Cock and Bull (two novellas), Atlantic Monthly Press (London, England), 1992.
• Grey Area and Other Stories, Bloomsbury (London, England), 1994.
• Tough, Tough Toys for Tough, Tough Boys, Grove Press (New York, NY), 1999.
• Dr. Mukti and Other Tales of Woe, Bloomsbury (London, England), 2004.
• Design Faults in the Volvo 760 Turbo, Penguin (London, England), 2005.

Contributor of cartoons to periodicals, including New Statesman and City Limits, and of articles and reviews to periodicals, including Esquire, Harper's, and the Independent. Also columnist for British newspapers, including the Observer, 1995-97, the Times, 1997-99, the Independent on Sunday, 1999-2001, and the Evening Standard, 2002--.