Irvine Welsh (born 27 September 1958) is a Scottish novelist, playwright and short story writer. He is recognised for his novel Trainspotting, which was later made into a critically acclaimed film of the same name. His work is characterised by a raw Scots dialect, and brutal depiction of Edinburgh life. He has also written plays and screenplays, and directed several short films.
Trainspotting is the first novel by Scottish writer Irvine Welsh, first released in 1993. It takes the form of a collection of short stories, written in either Scots, Scottish English or British English, revolving around various residents of Leith, Edinburgh who either use heroin, are friends of the core group of heroin users, or engage in destructive activities that are implicitly portrayed as addictions that serve the same function as heroin addiction. The novel is set in the late 1980s and has been called "the voice of punk, grown up, grown wiser and grown eloquent
has been called "the voice of punk, grown up, grown wiser and grown eloquent".
The novel has since achieved a cult status, added to by the global success of the film based on it, Trainspotting (1996), directed by Danny Boyle. Welsh later wrote a sequel, Porno, in 2002. Skagboys, a novel that serves as a prequel, was published in April 2012.
Irvine Welsh