There are some people you interview who just go through the motions. Irvine Welsh is not one of these people. You never quite know what the <em>Trainspotting</em> author is about to say next. This made for a lively episode of <a href="https://www.thenational.ae/podcasts/books-of-my-life"><em>Books of My Life</em>, a new podcast from <em>The National</em></a>, in which Welsh spoke candidly about growing up in working class Scotland, his problems with addiction and even his continued efforts to make a hit record. As if 11 novels and four short story collections isn't enough! At one point I asked Welsh which book he wished he'd written and he suggested <a href="https://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/books/in-conversation-with-dan-brown-in-the-uae-1.251782">Dan Brown's <em>The Da Vinci Code</em></a>. There's a certain financial logic to this but it's not quite what I had expected. Welsh will always be defined by <em>Trainspotting</em>. His debut novel, published in 1993, rocked the foundations of the literary world. It was a novel like no other: gritty and feral but immensely funny and touching, too. It went stratospheric when Danny Boyle directed an Academy Award-nominated adaptation, starring Ewan McGregor. So here's another surprise: Welsh doesn't believe <em>Trainspotting</em> is his best novel. That accolade is shared between <em>Marabou Stork Nightmares</em> (1995) and <em>Glue</em> (2001). "In their own way, they're stronger books than <em>Trainspotting</em>," says Welsh. I won’t spoil things by revealing the things Welsh would take to a desert island but needless to say, it’s a shock. This was undoubtedly one of the most amusing episodes of <em>Books of My Life</em> to record. Irvine Welsh is a true original. <strong><em>Subscribe to Books of My Life through your favourite podcasting app or listen via the website: <a href="https://www.thenational.ae/podcasts/books-of-my-life">thenational.ae/podcasts/books-of-my-life</a> </em></strong>
