Reading lists

Where to start with Irvine Welsh

Beyond Trainspotting: as the world limbers up for the first Irvine Welsh novel in four years, we guide you through his best work.

Since he shook up the boring old book world 30 years ago, Irvine Welsh has enthralled millions of readers with his stories – the blackest of comedies, the trickiest of tragedies – often set in the housing estates of working-class Scotland. Like Nick Hornby before him and Helen Fielding after, Welsh has produced many imitators, but few equals – and he has outlasted them all. Here’s a guide on where to begin reading his strong, strange bibliography.

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