Irvine Welsh on retiring the Trainspotting characters, microdosing to manage the mind and indifference to ageing

He may be reluctant to admit it, but, as years go, 2018 has been a pretty significant one for Irvine Welsh. Trainspotting, the audacious debut novel about a group of Edinburgh heroin addicts that made him a household name and spawned an era-defining film, celebrated its 25th anniversary in the summer, reminding the generation that came of age in the 1990s just how old they are.

As if to underscore that fact, in March, Welsh released Dead Men’s Trousers , his 12th novel and the fourth to revolve around Trainspotting’s enduring anti-heroes, now aged the wrong side of 50. And, in late September, the author reached a significant milestone of a personal nature: he turned 60.

Is this a time for reflection and a juncture at which to look back on everything he has achieved over the past quarter century? Hardly, says Welsh.

“Sometimes you walk into a shop and you see all these spines with your name on them on all these different books and you think, ‘Where the f**k did these come from?’ You don’t really have that much connection with them once they’re gone. If I see ‘Irvine Welsh: Trainspotting’, then I look next door to it and see ‘Jeanette Winterson: Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit’, I’ll feel as much connection with one as the other. It’s just something else on a shelf.”

Welsh is talking on the phone from his native Edinburgh a few days after the aforementioned birthday; although he is still a regular visitor to his hometown, he has lived in the United States for most of the past decade and currently lives in Miami. The Florida sun clearly agrees with him as, rather than slowing down and taking stock, the author is a hive of creativity: his next novel – “an intergenerational meditation on post-traumatic stress disorder in America triggered by gun violence” – is almost complete, while he also has a handful of film and television projects in the pipeline, and is working on tracks for an album of acid-house techno.

He is indifferent to turning 60 (“these things only become an issue if there’s a crisis, if something bad happens, but I’m not bothered about dates on calendars”) and he says he celebrated the occasion in low-key fashion, with a few close friends. While he admits to being partial to the odd narcotic-tinged blow out, the one-time heroin addict’s most consuming habit these days is his exercise regime, particularly the time he spends working out at his local boxing gym.

Although well-travelled, he says he has never been to Hong Kong, and is looking forward to his first visit, during which he’ll get the chance to express his twin passions, with a pair of talks at the Hong Kong International Literary Festival and a DJ set at Clockenflap music festival.