The author talks about his obsessive-compulsive thing, which Trainspotting character he most resembles, and losing his temper
Irvine Welsh is doing just fine for money. He knows he never has to work another day in his life, but he can’t stop himself. “I don’t like it when people say I’ve got an addictive personality,” he says. “It’s people who never take drugs who say that. But I have an obsessive-compulsive thing going on.” Writing is an itch he’s got to scratch – particularly when it comes to Trainspotting.
The author is about to release Dead Men’s Trousers, the fifth novel in his Trainspotting series. Welsh says it will be the final instalment (though by the end of the afternoon he’s not quite so sure). Trainspotting, published in 1993, is a violent black comedy about working-class heroin addicts in Edinburgh. In a Waterstones poll of 25,000 people, it was voted the 10th greatest book of the 20th century. It has sold more than 1m copies in the UK alone and is said to be the most shoplifted novel in British publishing history. The film of the book had even more impact: in 2012, it topped a poll of the best British films of the past 60 years.
It’s a common malaise people feel. They search for something, then they think, what was all that about?
I was one of these horrible kids that made the snowballs for other people to throw
I’m quite impatient. Once I’ve got the story done, I want to get it out
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