Niccolo was born in Rome on 25th September 1966.His first novel, "Branchie!" was printed in 1994 by the publishing house Ediesse, and it was reprinted in 1997 by Einaudi "Stile Libero". In 1995 he wrote "Nel nome del figlio" with his father Massimo Ammaniti (Professor of General Psycho-pathology and Evolutionary Age at the "La Sapienza" University in Rome), consisting of an essay about the adolescence problems. In 1996 Mondadori published his collection of short stories "Fango" and three years later "Ti prendo e ti porto via" (Steal you away), but the novel which brought him fame was his 2001 novel: "Io non ho paura" (I'm not scared) Einaudi stile libero 2001. It won the Premio Viareggio - Niccolò was the youngest writer to have ever won this historic award In 2006 Mondadori "Come Dio comanda" came out: the epic novel about a father-son relationship and how love can be born in an environment full of hate and fear. It went on to win the Premio Strega in 2007. To date his have books inspired four films: "L'ultimo capodanno" with Monica Bellucci (Marco Risi, 1998); "Branchie" (directed by Francesco Ranieri Martinotti, 1999); "Io non ho paura" and "Come Dio comanda" (the last two films have been directed by Gabriele Salvatores in 2003 and in 2008).
His books have been translated into 44 different languages.