Irvine Welsh to publish new sequel to ‘Trainspotting’

Posted On December 8, 2024December 8, 2024

Scottish novelist Irvine Welsh is set to revisit his classic novel Trainspotting over 30 years after the release of the original. His 1993 book is the most famous work in the writer’s canon, becoming a cult classic film through Danny Boyle’s adaptation.

“I’m really, really excited about bringing these characters back,” Welsh revealed when revealing that he is set to release the sequel, Men in Love. The cast of scatty characters have appeared in his books Porno and Skagboys, but this is the first time Welsh will return directly to their storyline.

Men in Love opens in the late 1980s when the lads are heading past the midpoint of their 20s. “It was that time at the end of punk and just before acid house, it was that quite fallow time of Thatcherism,” Welsh reflected on the period.

With the ‘End of History’ theory abounding, Welsh has hinted that the book will have a significant philosophical subtext. Postulating on the period, he says, “we made all these decisions that determine how we live now. We opted on to a neoliberal model which we thought would bring us personal freedom, but through the internet it seems now we’ve created a much more oppressive kind of corporate state than ever.”

This, ultimately, impacts the mindset of the characters. “I know for myself at the time, I thought, ‘Well, I’ve had my fun with punk and with drugs and all that, and I just want to kind of settle down to a nice life,’” said Welsh. “Then acid house came along and completely turned that on its head.”

The book is set to be published by Jonathan Cape and released on July 3rd, 2025. The Penguin subsidiary commented, “It is three decades since we first met the Trainspotting crew and they are raring to return next summer.”

How many books has Irvine Welsh released?

The book will be Welsh’s 15th full-length novel. However, he is perhaps even more prolific than this tally suggests as he has also created a range of scripts, theatre productions, short stories, collections and even tried his hand at directing in 2009 with Good Arrows, the tale of a darts player who suffers from depression.

With Men in Love only just announced, it is unclear at this stage whether it will be another of Welsh’s novels that is adapted for the big screen. In fact, presently even details surrounding the plot are scarce, but that hasn’t stopped fans of the Leith-born artist’s work celebrating.

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