Writing

Jon Ronson's first book, Clubbed Class, was published in 1994. The book is a travelogue in which Ronson bluffs his way into a jet set lifestyle, in search of the world's finest holiday.

His second book, Adventures with Extremists, is an investigative account of his experiences with people labelled as extremists, including David Icke, Randy Weaver, Omar Bakri Muhammad, Ian Paisley, and Thom Robb. Ronson also follows independent investigators of secretive groups such as the Bilderberg Group. The narrative tells of Ronson's attempts to infiltrate the "shadowy cabal" fabled, by these conspiracy theorists, to rule the world. The book, a bestseller, was described by Louis Theroux as "funny and compulsively readable picaresque adventure through a paranoid shadow world."

Variety magazine announced in September 2005 that Them has been purchased by Universal Pictures to be turned into a feature film. The screenplay is being written by Mike White (School of Rock, The Good Girl), produced by White and the comedian Jack Black, and directed by Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead).

Ronson's third book, The Men Who Stare at Goats, deals with the secret New Age unit within the US Army called the First Earth Battalion. Ronson investigates people such as Major General Albert Stubblebine III, former head of intelligence, who believe that people can walk through walls with the right mental preparation, and that goats can be killed simply by staring at them. Much was based on the ideas of Lt. Col. Jim Channon, ret., who wrote the First Earth Battalion Operations Manual in 1979, inspired by the emerging Human Potential Movement of California. The book tells how these New Age military ideas mutated over the decades to influence interrogation techniques at Guantanamo Bay. An eponymous film of the book was released in 2009, in which Ronson's investigations were fictionalised and structured around a journey to Iraq. Ronson is played by the actor Ewan McGregor in the film.

Ronson's fourth book, Out of the Ordinary: True Tales of Everyday Craziness, was published by Picador and Guardian Books in November 2006. It is a collection of Ronson's Guardian articles mostly about his domestic life. A companion volume, What I Do: More True Tales of Everyday Craziness, was published in November 2007.

Ronson also contributed the memoir A Fantastic Life to the Picador anthology Truth or Dare, in 2004. It told the story of Ronson's ill-fated endeavour to provide for his child an enchanting Christmas, and was the basis for his subsequent Out of the Ordinary column in The Guardian.

Documentaries

• The Ronson Mission (1994) BBC 2
• New York To California: A Great British Odyssey (1996) Channel 4
• Hotel Auschwitz (1996) BBC Radio 4
• Tottenham Ayatollah (1997) Channel 4
• Critical Condition (1997) Channel 4
• Dr Paisley, I Presume (1998) Channel 4
• New Klan (1999) Channel 4
• Secret Rulers of the World (2001) Channel 4
• The Double Life of Jonathan King (2002) Channel 4
• Kidneys for Jesus (2003) Channel 4
• I Am, Unfortunately, Randy Newman (2004) Channel 4
• Crazy Rulers of the World (2004) Channel 4
• Death in Santaland (2007) More 4. This is a documentary about a foiled school shooting plot in the Christmas theme town of North Pole, Alaska.
• Reverend Death (2008) Channel 4 about George Exoo, an advocate of euthanasia.
• Stanley Kubrick's Boxes (2008)
• Revelations (2009)

Radio

Jon Ronson's main radio work is the production and presentation of a BBC Radio 4 programme, Jon Ronson on... which was shortlisted for a 2006, 2008 and 2009 Sony award. In August 2008, Radio 4 aired "Robbie Williams and Jon Ronson Journey to the Other Side'", a documentary by Jon Ronson about pop star Williams' fascination with UFOs and the paranormal.

In the early 1990s, Ronson was offered the position of sidekick on Terry Christian's Show on Manchester radio station KFM. It was here that the idea for the Ronson Mission originated. Every week Terry would set Jon a task such as to go out and find out if there is such a thing as God or alien life on other planets. When Terry moved on to present the cult late-night youth TV show The Word (which Jon became the first journalist to review, having been sneaked into the pilot show by Terry), Jon took over the show. It specialised in playing indie music, reggae and sixties psychedelia and often featured tracks from his favourite artists including Randy Newman and The Breeders. Ronson also co-presented a KFM show with Craig Cash, who went on to write and perform in The Royle Family and Early Doors.

Ronson contributes to Public Radio International in the United States, particularly their programme This American Life. He has contributed segments to the following of its episodes: "Them", "Family Physics", "Naming Names", "It's Never Over", "Habeas Schmaebeas", "The Spokesman", "Pro Se". Some of these segments are versions of stories first heard on his BBC radio show.

Music

During his student years, Ronson replaced Mark Radcliffe as the keyboard player for the Frank Sidebottom band for a number of performances.

Ronson was the manager of Manchester indie band The Man From Delmonte.