My secret life: Irvine Welsh, novelist, 50
Interview by Charlotte Philby in The Independent,

Saturday, 31 January 2009

Pic by Robert Hallam

Irvine Welsh is a passionate Hibernian fan and an all-round lover of sport. He grew up playing football with Gordon Strachan on the streets of Edinburgh .

The home I grew up in ... was a system-built maisonette flat on an Edinburgh housing estate. The whole block is currently being demolished.
When I was a child I wanted to be ... an astronaut.

The moment that changed me for ever ... Seeing my wife across a crowded bar in Chicago. I saw her smile and heard her laugh, and definitely knew she was the one.

My greatest inspiration ... my parents. They always encouraged me and taught me right from wrong, tried to keep me on the straight and narrow. It didn't always work, but they were never judgemental.

My real-life villain ... Internal combustion in cars. I've never driven a car in my life but I like to be driven; I'm a drivee. I believe the only people who should be allowed to have cars are my close friends and immediate family – the rest should be allowed to rust.

If I could change one thing about myself ... Nothing. I had my eyes lasered a year ago. I hated having to wear glasses when watching football and at the cinema. That was the thing I wanted to change – and I have.

At night I dream of ... very extreme, really over the top, and quite disturbing things: violent dreams by night and sexual dreams by twilight. That's me.

What I see when I look in the mirror ... Work that needs to be done: a face that needs to be shaved, zits that need to be squeezed, crust that needs picking out of the corner of my eye.
My style icon ... John Hood, my friend in Miami. He's one of those guys who makes you try harder. He lives in the most horrible climate in terms of dressing up but is always togged-out in a suit, nice boots and a Panama hat.

My favourite item of clothing ... a great tan-leather bomber jacket I bought in Harvey Nichols in Edinburgh. I'm a bit paranoid about wearing it. It's so good, someone might steal it from me.

Read the full intervew at The Independent online.

Footnote:

Born in Leith, Scotland, in 1958, the writer Irvine Welsh is best known for his 1993 novel, Trainspotting, which became a hit film starring Ewan McGregor. He also wrote The Acid House, Ecstasy and Filth. In 2005 he married for the second time, to an American, Beth Quinn, and he divides his time between homes in Dublin and Miami.