Vermes was born in Nuremberg in 1967. His father fled from Hungary after the suppression of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. After graduation, he studied history and politics in the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg. Since then he has been a journalist for tabloids such as the Munich Abendzeitung and the Cologne Express among other newspapers. In 2007 he started to ghostwrite books, including a book by a so-called crime scene cleaner entitled What's Left Of Death.In 2012 he published his debut novel, Er ist wieder da. In the satire he wrote a scenario in which Adolf Hitler in wakes up in 2011 in Berlin and through various comedy television shows eventually re-enters politics. After presentation at the Frankfurt Book Fair, the novel rose to number one on the Spiegel Bestseller List. The audiobook read by Christoph Maria Herbst also reached the top spot. Since September 2012, the book has sold over 700,000 copies (as of June 2013) and has been translated into 27 languages. In December 2013 it was announced that Vermes' bestseller was to be produced by Constantin Film as a movie. The film is slated for release in 2015. Vermes is also writing the script for the film.