Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Trainspotting | 1993 | Irvine Welsh | Buy |
| 2 | Porno / T2 Trainspotting | 2005 | Irvine Welsh | Buy |
| 3 | Skagboys | 2012 | Irvine Welsh | Buy |
| 4 | The Blade Artist | 2016 | Irvine Welsh | Buy |
| 5 | Dead Men’s Trousers | 2018 | Irvine Welsh | Buy |
| 6 | Men In Love | 2025 | Irvine Welsh | N/A |
| 7 | Glue | 2001 | Irvine Welsh | Buy |
| 8 | A Decent Ride | 2015 | Irvine Welsh | Buy |
The Trainspotting / Mark Renton series is Irvine Welsh’s most famous body of work. It began with Trainspotting (1993), which follows Mark Renton, Sick Boy, Spud, Begbie, and other characters living in the Edinburgh heroin scene of the 1980s. The novel was written in Scots dialect with rotating narrators and became one of the defining British novels of the 1990s. Danny Boyle’s 1996 film adaptation was a global hit.
Welsh has returned to these characters repeatedly. Porno (2002) reunites the group ten years later in the Edinburgh film industry. Skagboys (2012) goes back to the early 1980s to show how the characters first fell into addiction. The Blade Artist (2016) follows the violent Begbie as he tries to reinvent himself as a sculptor in California. Dead Men’s Trousers (2018) brings the whole group back together for a final reckoning, and Men In Love (2025) continues the saga.