One of France’s most widely read authors, as well as a director, screenwriter and producer, Gilles Legardinier has always sought to evoke emotions that resonate with his audience.
Having worked on international film sets, he now devotes his time to writing his novels – all of which are bestsellers – and to film communications for major studios, whilst also acting as a script consultant. He wrote and directed the film adaptation of his novel Complètement cramé !, starring John Malkovich, Fanny Ardant, Émilie Dequenne and Philippe Bas, which was released in cinemas in France in 2023 and subsequently in many other countries.
Switching between a wide variety of literary genres, he has made a name for himself, amongst other things, in the thriller genre with L’Exil des Anges (2010 SNCF Crime Novel Prize) and Nous étions les hommes (2011), and in comedy, which has brought him phenomenal success both in France and abroad, with Demain j’arrête ! (2011, the best-selling French-language novel of 2013), Complètement cramé ! (2012), Et soudain tout change (2013), Ça peut pas rater ! (2014) and Quelqu’un pour qui trembler (2015). Blending adventure, historical thriller and comedy, Le Premier Miracle (2016) marked a new phase, followed by two further comedies, Une fois dans ma vie (2017) and J’ai encore menti ! (2018), then a gripping historical adventure novel, For a Moment of Eternity (2019). He then went on to write two further successful comedies, One in a Billion (2020) and Tuesday Evening, 7 pm (2021), and an adventure novel, The Secret of the Sunless City (2022), before alternating between comedies and thrillers with My Turn on the Carousel (2023), I Started by Dying (2024) and The Company of Happy Coincidences (2025).
Gilles Legardinier is also the co-author, with Mimie Mathy, of a delightful essay, Is It Better to Be Very Small or Abandoned at Birth? (2017) and, with his wife Pascale, the romantic comedy Comme une ombre (2018), and the book Les phrases interdites si vous voulez rester en couple (2019).
Gilles Legardinier is an Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters.
