Irvine Welsh books

Anthologies

Crime Reading Order

Friendship

Non-Fiction

Short Stories/Novellas

Short Story Collections

Standalone Novels

Terry Lawson Reading Order

Trainspotting / Mark Renton Reading Order

Irvine Welsh was born in Edinburgh in 1958 and grew up in Leith, the Muirhouse housing estate, and other working-class neighborhoods. He moved to London in the late 1970s and became involved in the punk rock scene before returning to Edinburgh, where he studied for an MBA at Heriot-Watt University. His debut novel Trainspotting (1993) became a cultural landmark, and Danny Boyle’s 1996 film adaptation brought the story to a worldwide audience.

Welsh has published eleven novels and four short story collections. Most of his fiction is set in Edinburgh and returns to themes of drug use, poverty, violence, and dark humor. His writing is notable for its use of Scots dialect rendered phonetically on the page. Characters from Trainspotting reappear across several of his books, with Skagboys (2012) serving as a prequel and Porno (2002) as a direct sequel. His written works have sold over six million copies worldwide.