 Tom McCarthy was born in London in 1969 and lives in Central London.McCarthy grew up in Greenwich, south London and was educated at Dulwich College (1978 to 1986) and later New College, Oxford, where he studied English literature.He lived in Prague, where he worked as a nude model and in an American bar; Berlin, where he worked in an Irish pub; and Amsterdam, where he worked in a restaurant kitchen and reviewed books for the local edition of "Time Out" magazine in the early 90s, before moving back to London.