Irvine Welsh
by Daniel Robert Epstein for SuicideGirls (http://suicidegirls.com/)

Irvine Welsh gained enormous notoriety (not to mention a huge cult following that overflowed into the mainstream) when the film adaptation of Trainspotting was released ten years ago. Since then he’s written a number of other books chronicling the adventures of various fuckups, including a sequel to Trainspotting called Porno. Welsh has just released The Bedroom Secrets of the Master Chefs, yet another narrative about fuckups--but this time it's fuckups on their way up in the restaurant world. The protagonist is Danny Skinner, a restaurant health inspector who is also trying to figure out who his father is.

Buy The Bedroom Secrets of the Master Chefs

Daniel Robert Epstein: How’s the book tour going?

Irvine Welsh: It’s going ok. I got in really late last night here in Boston. Then I have a couple of days in New York and Philadelphia.

DRE: You’ve done many books tours in the US, is it much different than doing it in other countries?

IW: I’ve got a lot of friends over here. I’ve got a lot of friends in New York and Chicago because my wife’s from there and San Francisco and also in LA. It is fun to see my pals over here all the time.

DRE: I read the new book and I really enjoyed it. It is interesting because your previous books were based around people in the Scottish middle class while this one is a step up.

IW: Yeah, I think the guys are from the same background from the Trainspotting guys. But unlike the Trainspotting guys who have opted out these guys have opted in. They have professional jobs and are trying to go up the career ladder.

DRE: Is it in any way reflective of the fact that you’re not middle class at this point?

IW: Yeah, with class terminology I’ve probably gone from working class to upper class. It is also the fact that I wanted to do something a bit different. So many people go to college to get a good degree to get a good job but then they accrue so much debt with 30 year mortgages. I think people feel more trapped in the rat race than they did maybe 20 years ago.

DRE: Do you feel like there’s a parallel between him being a restaurant inspector but yet he can’t track down his father?

IW: Yeah I think it’s there. As a restaurant inspector he’s trained to look at things in a very small way. Very specific things like bad health and safety practices, bad hygiene and all that sort of stuff. He’s got an eye that’s been trained but part of the problem is that he’s so focused on the small stuff that he avoids looking at the big picture. Now it’s time to look at the big picture of his life and when you do that the details of his job all become very trivial to him.

DRE: There’s a funny review on Amazon that said, “It’s a really good book as long as you can stomach the unrelenting vulgarities.” Do you curse as much as your characters?

IW: It is kind of hard to say really. Once you create the characters it depends on what comes out of their mouths. Also I want to get a reaction from people.

DRE: Are your books in any way autobiographical at this point?

IW: I think one of the things about being a writer is that you always try to create a venue for you to do your work. So you try to get in touch with all that you are to create characters.

DRE: I’ve spoken to Chuck Palahniuk and he still takes drugs. Sometimes people will send him drugs in the mail and he will take them without knowing what they are.

IW: Yes, that’s Chuck for you.

DRE: Do you still indulge?

IW: Yeah I do. I’m very much of the same boat as Chuck. I still get stuff and sometimes you don’t want to know what it is. I don’t do it as much as I used to do though.

DRE: After Choke came out, I asked Chuck how the Fight Club movie affected his career. He said that the books sell like crazy now.

IW: Yes that’s the same thing for me. I know Chuck quite well and I feel quite connected to him because our careers have had similar trajectories with our first books being made into films and given us a profile that we wouldn’t have had otherwise. We owe a lot to those guys who made those movies.

DRE: I read that when traveling around America that you’re a little surprised by people celebrating the tenth anniversary of the Trainspotting movie.

IW: Yeah, I knew it was a culty film but I didn’t know it was as popular over here. I can’t believe the kind of response that I get here. Every time I come over, it seems to be more people who have it and more people wanting to buy the book. That is strange to me because I thought I was writing about a very specific place but I have people come up to me and say, “No, we’ve got a Begbie and a Spud and all that kind of stuff here.”

DRE: Are you interested in seeing [the sequel to Trainspotting] Porno become a movie?

IW: Yeah, I’m sort of waiting for the people who did Trainspotting. I’m sure they’ll come up with something in their own time. Basically we just leave them alone. I’ve got a full production company with Bobby Carlyle who is one of the actors in Trainspotting. We’ve got a lot of projects we’re trying to do so I’m quite happy to let other people adapt my books. A film version of Ecstasy is shooting this year. I don’t want to be involved in any adaptations because I feel once I’ve done the book that’s as much as I’ve got the patience to do.

DRE: What do you think of all of those questions that you got about being misogynist after doing a reading of Bedroom Secrets?

IW: I think that the Guardian and all that got a wee bit too excited about that. The woman said that the passage I read was misogynistic and we had what I felt was an amicable discussion about that. She really didn’t say it was misogynistic, she told me she actually said that it was misanthropic which is probably true. I think she knows it was the wrong term she used. The passage is about this old woman exploiting this young guy to have sex with her. So I don’t think there is anything misogynistic about that probably the reverse is possible. She is completely in control.

DRE: How did you like directing that short film for [the band] Keane?

IW: It was great fun. I want to do a longer short for them. I want to direct a feature in March next year.

DRE: Is the feature The Man Who Walks?

IW: Yeah, Alan Warner's book. If we get the money we’re hoping to be able to do that in March so that’s quite exciting.

DRE: Do you think you’ll settle into directing a feature well?

IW: Yeah, I’ve done a lot of screenplays. I’ve got one shooting in September called Wedding Bells, which is going to be a film for Channel 4. I’ve got another one called The Meat Trade which is going to star Bobby Carlyle and Colin Firth and it is being directed by Antonia Bird. I don’t want to direct them because if you’re a writer you’re writing the books. You feel like you’re laying the foundations. It seems a bit false to be writing the screenplay.

DRE: I read that you recently got married.

IW: Yeah, just over a year ago. She’s from Chicago.

DRE: Did you guys meet on a book tour?

IW: No, I was doing a promotional thing in Chicago.

DRE: Have you ever been married before?

IW: Yeah, this is my second marriage.

DRE: How is it being married to an American as opposed to what you were married to before?

IW: [laughs] Well my first wife was English, my second wife is American. So I’ve had to get used to two different accents.

DRE: Do you want to have kids or anything like that?

IW: No, not really. I’m really happy with what I’m doing.

by Daniel Robert Epstein

SG Username: AndersWolleck

web address: http://suicidegirls.com/interviews/Irvine+Welsh/