Movies have been made outta his words, lots and lots of movies, each of which is mad, bad and dangerous not to know about, including The Acid House, Ecstasy, Filth, and, of course, a little torrent of beautiful depravity entitled Trainspotting. But it's the words themselves which spurred the cinema to unhinge, and compelled those who still read anything longer than a blog post to rejoice every time they join together in a book.
His name is Irvine Welsh, and the time for rejoicing is once again at hand. Or will be anyway, come February 2015, when The Sex Lives of Siamese Twins (Doubleday) racks in the States and the man makes his way back to the MIA in order to hype his latest longplay.
To ensure we're all suitably prepared to celebrate Scot wordslinger's next bit of vile wile, New Times got Welsh himself to give us a tease.
See also: Book Fair's Weird Florida Panel to Talk Mermaids, Ghost Stories, and Exotic Animals
New Times: Congrats on the new novel! Wanna give us a summation of what it's all about?
Irvine Welsh: It's steamy, swampy Floridian lesbian noir, about the false dichotomy between sport and art.
Would you say it's an "Only in Miami" kind of story?
I think it works in any sunny climate and the issues of body image are generic to our consumerist society, but it has particular resonance to here.
Are the characters, at least, Only in Miami types?
I think they are. The great thing about Miami, whether people are models, artists, gardeners, club owners, bums or hustlers, they all travel in hope.
This ain't the first time you've used our town as the basis for your (un)customary crazy, is it?
I set a previous novel, Crime, in Miami, and also a novella (I Am Miami) here. This is first time I've used indigenous Miamians as the main characters, rather than imported Scots and Brits.
Can we bask in the fact that it's also unlikely to be the last?
Yes, I'm very inspired to write here. Always have been. This is a great town for stories, everybody seems to have crazy backstory here.
What originally drove you to this town anyway?
I came a couple of times to the WMC back in my DJing days. Fell in love with the heat and the light. Got a place, [and I'm] now very much a part-time Miami guy.
Do you envision any reason that might drive you away?
No, I'm far more likely to increase my time here than decrease it.
While we're grilling you, what made you switch to Doubleday?
I love Norton, but my original publisher, Gerry Howard, is a force of nature, and the chance to hook up with him there was something I wanted to do for a long time.
The Sex Lives of Siamese Twins racks February 3, 2015; Irvine Welsh appears at Books and Books February 4, 2015.
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