Kay and Gervais in running for book award

They are best known for their comic performances, but yesterday two of Britain's best-loved comedians, Ricky Gervais and Peter Kay, were shortlisted for the British Book Awards.

Kay is pitted against a diverse bunch of writers in the best book category, including the scientist Professor Richard Dawkins and Victoria Hislop, a first-time novelist. Gervais has been nominated for best children's book for Flanimals, set in a weird world of imaginary creatures.

The Galaxy British Book Awards - also known as the Nibbies owing to the pen nib design of the awards - bring together established authors, celebrity writers and new talent whose work is voted on by ordinary readers.

Kay, who achieved fame with the Channel 4 series Phoenix Nights, is in the running to win biography of the year, as well as book of the year. The Sound of Laughter, which charts Kay's rise from Bolton's stand-up comedy scene to television stardom, was one of the best-selling titles of 2006, shifting a record-breaking 600,000 copies in its first two months on sale.

Almost one million have now been sold- making it the UK's best-selling celebrity autobiography of all time.

The other contenders for book of the year are The Dangerous Book for Boys by Conn and Hal Iggulden, which appeals as much to middle-aged men as to children, Dawkins' anti-religious polemic The God Delusion and The Island by Victoria Hislop, a family drama set in Crete, which has already sold more than 650,000 copies. Hislop is also a strong contender for the newcomer of the year award.

In the best biography category, Kay faces stiff competition from Humble Pie, the tale of Gordon Ramsay's rise to culinary fame and the surprise hit Marley and Me, the memoirs of a labrador puppy. "I am usually competing against other chefs," Ramsay observed in expletive-punctuated fashion. "This is the first time I am up for an award against a dog! May the best man or beast win!"

Competing against Gervais for the children's book award are Terry Pratchett's Wintersmith and Geraldine McCaughrean's Peter Pan In Scarlet, her updating of J M Barrie's classic story.

Dawkins is also nominated for author of the year for The God Delusion, while former US vice-president Al Gore hopes to emulate his Oscars success with An Inconvenient Truth in the running for this year's television and film book award.

The awards ceremony at the Grosvenor House hotel in London on 28 March will be hosted by the television presenters Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan, who oversee one of the most coveted awards - Richard & Judy's best read of the year, based on their television bookclub. There are eight titles on the shortlist and in the weeks preceding the awards, each of the books is discussed on the couple's Channel 4 show.

Last year the "Richard & Judy effect" contributed to the success of Kate Mosse's Labyrinth, which became the fastest-selling paperback ever, earning about £500,000 on sales of just over 850,000.

The nominations

* AUTHOR OF THE YEAR

Richard Dawkins, Marina Lewycka, Kate Mosse, Jodi Picoult

* BIOGRAPHY OF THE YEAR

Humble Pie - Gordon Ramsay; Marley and Me - John Grogan; The Sound of Laughter - Peter Kay; Thomas Hardy: The Time-Torn Man - Claire Tomalin

* BOOK OF THE YEAR

The Dangerous Book for Boys - Conn and Hal Iggulden; The God Delusion - Richard Dawkins; The Island - Victoria Hislop; The Night Watch - Sarah Waters; The Sound of Laughter - Peter Kay, left

* CHILDREN'S BOOK OF THE YEAR

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas - John Boyne; Flanimals of the Deep - Ricky Gervais; Horrid Henry and the Football Fiend - Francesca Simon; The Incredible Book Eating Boy - Oliver Jeffers; Peter Pan in Scarlet - Geraldine McCaughrean; Wintersmith - Terry Pratchett

* CRIME THRILLER OF THE YEAR

Looking Good Dead - Peter James; The Naming of the Dead - Ian Rankin; One Good Turn - Kate Atkinson; The Righteous Men - Sam Bourne

* NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR

Michael Cox - The Meaning of Night; Jane Harris - The Observations; Victoria Hislop - The Island; Diane Setterfield - The Thirteenth Tale

* POPULAR FICTION AWARD

Anybody Out There - Marian Keyes; Close - Martina Cole; The Constant Princess - Philippa Gregory; Wicked! - Jilly Cooper.

* SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR

Gerrard: My Autobiography - Steven Gerrard, right; Pele: The Autobiography - Pele; Penguins Stopped Play - Harry Thompson; There's an Awful Lot of Bubbly in Brazil - Alan Brazil with Mike Parry

* TV & FILM BOOK OF THE YEAR

The Book of General Ignorance - The QI team; The Devil Wears Prada - Lauren Weisberger; An Inconvenient Truth - Al Gore; Planet Earth - Alastair Fothergill.

* WRITER OF THE YEAR

John Agard - We Brits; Kiran Desai - The Inheritance of Loss; Jackie Kay - Wish I Was Here; Gautam Malkani - Londonstani

* RICHARD & JUDY'S BEST READ OF THE YEAR

Half of a Yellow Sun - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie; Restless - William Boyd; This Book Will Save Your Life - A M Homes; Love in the Present Tense - Catherine Ryan Hyde; The Girls - Lori Lansens; Semi-Detached - Griff Rhys-Jones; The Testament of Gideon Mack - James Robertson; The Interpretation of Murder - Jed Rubenfeld