Adult life is full of mysteries.

What should you check before renting a flat?

How do you ask for a pay rise?

Does anything really need to be dry cleaned?

And why does everyone else seem to know these things except you? (They don’t, but this book will help.)

Being an Adult is a practical and entertaining guide to the life skills you didn’t learn at school. If you've ever wondered when you’re going to become a ‘real’ grown-up, this book will give you the answers you need.

‘Oh, how I wish I’d had this book when I was twenty-one, I could’ve avoided so many stupid disasters. I love everything about this warm, funny life manual, it should honestly be required reading for humans everywhere. My favourites were the DIY and money section (because, frankly, I have no idea), and I thought the personal stories throughout were the perfect, relatable touch. Fascinating, insightful and so so helpful — without being patronising — Kat and Lucy are the heroes this generation desperately needs.’

‘It’s a practical guide interspersed with personal anecdotes … they’ve compiled the hottest know-how into one simple tome. From emergency DIY tips to dressing for the office, it’s the adult stuff you need to know.’

‘It gives you the life skills you should’ve been taught in school … And, crucially, it also gives you lowdowns on the serious stuff … The thing about Being an Adult is it covers everything … This book should be thrust into the hands of every graduating student as they walk across the stage.’

‘I can’t believe nobody had published this when I was twenty … it’s so thorough so obviously orchestrated by somebody who has actually experienced and still remembers the little niggling details that can really pull your confidence down or stress you out, and they’re the things that people assume that you know but you actually don’t. I think everybody needs [this].’

Lucy Tobin is an award-winning journalist, specialising in business and personal finance at the Evening Standard. She’s also a regular in magazines and online media including Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, and the Huffington Post, writing on topics ranging from student life and uni to careers and parenting. Recently named Business Journalist of the Year at the Santander Media Awards, Lucy is the author of six books, including the Amazon-bestsellers A Guide to Uni Life and Entrepreneur. She can often be seen and heard on commenting on news stories on TV (BBC Breakfast, News 24, Sky News) and radio (Radio 4’s Broadcasting House and Woman’s Hour, LBC). Lucy graduated from Oxford University with a first-class degree in English in 2008. Kat Poole is editor of Emerald Street, the daily women’s lifestyle email magazine from Shortlist Media. She started her career at Stylist magazine, and has written for Empire, The Debrief, and Red, specialising in lifestyle, culture, and entertainment. Kat graduated from the University of Warwick with a first-class degree in Film and Literature in 2011.