Publishers thought it was a sure-fire hit, but the autobiography of Jonathan Ross, who was suspended without pay from his £6m-a-year job with the BBC, has failed to make The Sunday Times bestsellers’ list of 2008.

Sales stalled after Ross left obscene telephone messages for Andrew Sachs, the elderly actor, in the incident that led to his 12-week suspension.

In a year that has seen non-fiction hardback sales dominated by celebrity memoirs, readers appear to have rejected Ross’s book, presciently titled Why Do I Say These Things?

The bestsellers’ list is headed by Paul O’Grady, the cross-dressing entertainer, who shifted almost 600,000 copies of his book, At My Mother’s Knee.

O’Grady easily pushed memoirs by Dawn French and Julie Walters into second and third place respectively. Ross was well out of the reckoning after racking up just 70,660 sales by the week ending December 20.

The publishing trade regards 100,000 copies as the benchmark for a modest hit, while a celebrity with the clout of Ross would generally be expected to achieve double this figure.

Ross was suspended after he and Russell Brand, a fellow Radio 2 DJ, left abusive messages for Sachs, 78, the Fawlty Towers actor, during a prerecorded show. Ironically, Ross, 48, had appeared on the programme to promote his book.

The prank, which the BBC Trust described as “grossly offensive”, led to the resignations of Brand and Lesley Douglas, the boss of Radio 2. Ross will remain off the air until late January.

Last Friday his book was at 685 in the Amazon book sales chart despite being offered online at half price.

Philip Davies, a Tory member of the Commons culture, media and sport select committee, said: “I guess it nails the myth that all publicity is good publicity.

“I haven’t read it, and maybe it just isn’t very good, but if its poor sales are down to the Sachs affair then as far as I’m concerned it’s poetic justice.”

Ross was reportedly paid a £250,000 advance for his memoirs by Transworld publishers eight years ago, but was too busy broadcasting to complete them until earlier this year.

“Everyone was expecting Ross to be up there in the top five with Paul O’Grady,” said Philip Stone, charts editor at The Bookseller magazine, which helps to compile the Sunday Times list.

“You wouldn’t expect sales to drop in the run-up to Christmas when the entire market increases by 15-20%, but Ross flatlined after the scandal broke.”

The failure is all the more embarrassing for Ross because Brand’s autobiography, My Booky Wook, was a runaway bestseller last year. Even this year’s sales of Brand’s book in hardback beat Ross’s offering, while the paperback has sold more than 220,000 copies since the summer.

Max Clifford, the publicist, suggested that by remaining silent after the Sachs broadcast, Ross may have done himself more harm than Brand, who quickly fell on his sword.

“For someone who’s outspoken and critical of other people, you would have expected him to have stood up and be counted, but he went into hiding instead,” said Clifford. “That in itself would have damaged his popularity and appeal.”

The Sachs effect, however, may not be the sole reason for Ross’s modest book sales. A review of Why Do I Say These Things? in The Sunday Times by Matt Rudd was not flattering: “Rambling segues into rambling that begets — deep breath — more rambling.

“One minute, we’re in the midst of why comic books are great, the next why he had to wear stockings on a milk float, the next why he declined to pleasure a man in a wheelchair.”

Top hardbacks of 2008

Paul O’Grady – At My Mother’s Knee (Sales: 594,810)

Dawn French – Dear Fatty (514,115)

Julie Walters – That’s Another Story (413,520)

Michael Parkinson – Parky (391,850)

Jeremy Clarkson – For Crying Out Loud (292,700)

Alan Carr – Look Who It Is! (232,580)

Katie Price – Jordan: Pushed to the Limit (229,285)

Cliff Richard – My Life, My Way (172,540)

Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding – The Mighty Book of Boosh (138,580)

Fern Britton – Fern (125,965)

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