Irvine Welsh His first novel, "Trainspotting", was published in 1993. Set in the mid-1980s, it uses a series of loosely connected short stories to tell the story of a group of characters tied together by decaying friendships, heroin addiction and stabs at escape from the oppressive boredom and brutality of their lives in the housing schemes. It was released to shock and outrage in some circles and great acclaim in others; "Time Out" called it "funny, unflinchingly abrasive, authentic and inventive", and "The Sunday Times" called Welsh "the best thing that has happened to British writing for decades". It was adapted as
Irvine Welsh directed his first short dramatic film, "NUTS", which he co-wrote with Cavanagh. The film features Joe McKinney as a man dealing with testicular cancer in post Celtic tiger Ireland. It was released in 2007. Welsh co-directed "The Right to liberty", a chapter of the documentary film "The New Ten Commandments", in 2008. In 2009 Welsh directed the film "Good Arrows" (co-directed by Helen Grace). It was written by Welsh and Cavanagh. The film is about a darts player who suffers from depression which causes him to lose his skill. As well as recreational drug use, Welsh's fiction and non-fiction is