Amy Liptrot grew up on a farm in Orkney and studied at the University of Edinburgh. She lived in London for ten years, resorting to alcohol and drug use. After losing her job, her home, and her boyfriend because of her alcoholism, she returned to Orkney to rehabilitate. She recorded her experiences there in her first book, The Outrun. She gave birth to a child in December 2018. As of 2019 Liptrot had been without alcohol for eight years.