Trainspotting (novel) Trainspotting (novel) Trainspotting is the first novel by Scottish writer Irvine Welsh, first published in 1993. It takes the form of a collection of short stories, written in either Scots, Scottish English or British English, revolving around various residents of Leith, Edinburgh who either use heroin, are friends of the core group of heroin users, or engage in destructive activities that are implicitly portrayed as addictions that serve the same function as heroin addiction. The novel is set in the late 1980s and has been described by "The Sunday Times" as "the voice of punk, grown up, grown wiser and
4 a.m. (novel) Hamburg, using recreational drugs and attending raves. Very soon their drug usage begins to clash with their military duties and lives, leading to the pair undergoing pressure on their military jobs, friendship, and personal lives. The novel was reviewed in the Scottish and UK national press, with the "Glasgow Herald" remarking "it's about time we had a female Irvine Welsh". "The Guardian"'s Catherine Taylor took a more equivocal line, praising the novel's "electric" narrative, but disliking the pop-cultural references. Mike Cobley of "The Brighton Magazine" was more impressed, writing "It had me gripped from the off, and by its close