Also writes as Philip Kerr. Philip Kerr (P.B. Kerr) was a British author of both adult fiction and non-fiction, most notably the Bernie Gunther series, and of children's books, particularly the Children of the Lamp series. Kerr was educated at a grammar school in Northampton. He studied law at the University of Birmingham from 1974–1980, achieving a masters degree. Kerr worked as an advertising copywriter for Saatchi and Saatchi before becoming a full-time writer in 1989. He wrote for the Sunday Times, the Evening Standard and the New Statesman.