Skagboys

Before Trainspotting came Skagboys the Number One Bestseller. Mark Renton has it all: he’s good-looking, young, with a pretty girlfriend and a bright future. But there’s no room for him in the 1980s and when his family starts to fracture, Mark’s life swings out of control. The way out is heroin. It’s no better for his friends – Spud Murphy is laid off from his job, Tommy Lawrence finds himself sucked into a life of petty crime, violence and the world of the psychotic Franco Begbie. Only Sick Boy seems to ride the current, scamming and hustling his way through it all. Exhilarating and moving, Skagboys charts their journey from likely lads to young addicts in a decade which changed Britain forever.

Reviews of Skagboys

"Masterful… its banter, outrage and razor wit sing off the page" Independent "Brilliant and even more thrilling than its predecessor" Mail on Sunday "Quite simply a masterpiece" Scotsman "A brilliantly funny, scary, sweeping novel with all the energy of Welsh's debut" Independent on Sunday "Funny…visceral and true… Welsh's finest work to date" The Times