Guy Holmes' first book, The Cadet Story, was published in the 1980s. He subsequently had a career in the Health Service in the UK, working as a clinical psychologist for over 25 years in community settings with people with severe mental health difficulties, people who heard voices, were suicidally depressed, and frequently hospitalised. During this time, he published over 50 academic articles and three highly successful books: This is Madness, This is Madness Too and Psychology in the Real World. He retired on the grounds of mental ill health in 2015. He is the grandson of renowned Welsh author Frank Richards, whose most famous book, Old Soldiers Never Die, is still in print nearly 100 years after it was first published.