Violent, loud, obscene; funny, honest, intelligent – Irvine Welsh’s literature is all this and more. Born into working-class Edinburgh, Welsh attended Heriot-Watt University in the city, where, it is said, he started writing his first and most famous novel Trainspotting.

His portrait of young heroin users living on the edge of society – on the edge of life – was famously filmed in 1996.

Writing predominantly in Scots vernacular, and writing about issues which will be familiar to anyone growing up in working-class Scotland over the last few decades, his novels and short stories are nonetheless popular across the UK and further afield.

Irvine Welsh is now a partner in a film production company, 4 Ways. Porno, is a sequel to Trainspotting, and in 2012 a prequel, Ska boys was published.

 As well as his novels, Welsh has written a number of short story collections, most recently Reheated Cabbage.