Irvine Welsh
(born September 1961 -) - Leith, Edinburgh
Violent, loud, obscene; funny, honest, intelligent - Irvine Welsh’s literature is all this and more. Born into working-class Edinburgh, Welsh attended Heriot-Watt University in the city, where, it is said, he started writing his first and most famous novel Trainspotting. His portrait of young heroin users living on the edge of society – on the edge of life – was famously filmed in 1996.
Writing predominantly in Scots vernacular, and writing about issues which will be familiar to anyone growing up in working-class Scotland over the last few decades, his novels and short stories are nonetheless popular across the UK and further afield. Irvine Welsh is now a partner in a film production company, 4 Ways. Porno, is a sequel to Trainspotting, and his latest novel, The Bedroom Secrets of the Master Chefs, was launched at the 2006 Edinburgh International Book Festival.
Key titles
- The Acid House
The Acid House presents a collection of short stories by Irvine Welsh. Using a range of approaches from bitter realism to demented fantasy, the stories cover a diverse range of subjects and are told in Welsh's distinctive style. - The Bedroom Secrets Of The Master Chefs
Troubled environmental health officer Danny Skinner is engaged on a quest to uncover what he refers to as the 'bedroom secrets of the master chefs.' To this end, he travels from Edinburgh to San Francisco, where he meets a strange nemesis in the form of Brian Kibby - but it is in his rival that Danny will find his destiny. - Crime
A novel about the corruption and abuse of the human soul and the possibilities of redemption, 'Crime' is a thrilling journey into the bright glamour of the Sunshine State and a seething underworld of utter darkness. - Ecstasy: Three Tales Of Chemical Romance
Irvine Welsh is the controversial author of Trainspotting and The Acid House. With Ecstacy, Welsh presents three stories about love and drug culture. - Filth
In Bruce Robertson, Welsh has created one of the most corrupt, misanthropic characters in contemporary fiction, and has written a dark, disturbing and very funny novel about sleaze, power, and the abuse of everything. - Glue
Glue is the story of four boys growing up in Edinburgh. Follow their lives from the 1970s to the new century, from punk to techno, from speed to Es, see each of them as they struggle to get away from the conditioning of class and culture. - If You Liked School, You'll Love Work
Many questions are posed, and answered, in these five extraordinary stories: stories that remind us that Irvine Welsh is a master of the shorter form, a brilliant storyteller, and - unarguably - one of the funniest writers in Britain. - Marabou Stork Nightmares
Roy Strang is engaged in a odd quest to eradicate the scavenger bird, the Marabou Stork, before it drives away the flamingo from the Lake Torto in South Africa. But behind this world lies the world of Roy's bizarre family & his youthful life of brutality. - Porno
In the fag-end of his youth, Simon 'Sick Boy' Williamson is back in his native Edinburgh to realise his dream of making a pornographic movie. 'Porno' is the sequel to 'Trainspotting'. - Trainspotting
The story of Edinburgh heroin addicts which changed the face of British fiction. - You'll Have Had Your Hole
From the author of Trainspotting comes this new play You'll Have Had Your Hole.
Bibliography
- Trainspotting - 1993
- The Acid House - 1994
- Marabou Stork Nightmares - 1995
- Ecstasy: Three Tales of Chemical Romance- 1996
- Filth - 1998
- You'll Have Had Your Hole (drama) - 1998
- Glue - 2001
- Porno - 2002
- Bedroom Secrets of the Master Chefs - 2006
- If You Liked School You'll Love Work - 2007
- Crime - 2008