Irvine Welsh has revealed that a new sequel to his iconic novel “Trainspotting” is on the way. The Scottish author, who first introduced readers to a group of heroin addicts in 1993, saw his work adapted into a film three years later by Danny Boyle, featuring Ewan McGregor, Robert Carlyle, and Johnny Lee Miller. The original film was followed by a sequel in 2017, T2 Trainspotting, which reunited the original cast. Now, Welsh has announced that the literary sequel will be titled “Men In Love” and will explore the lives of Renton, Spud, Sick Boy, and Begbie as they attempt to leave heroin behind and embrace love instead.
In a statement shared with The Guardian, Welsh expressed his excitement about revisiting these characters, saying, “I’m really, really excited about bringing these characters back.” The new novel will focus on a pivotal period in the characters' mid-twenties, a time Welsh describes as “interesting” when men begin to take their quest for romance seriously, reflecting on their own mortality for the first time. While there have been other spin-off novels featuring the “Trainspotting” characters, such as “Porno” and “Skagboys”, “Men In Love” is the first to directly follow the events of the original novel.
Welsh emphasized that the new book will highlight the “big emotional lives” of working-class characters, a perspective often overlooked in fiction. He noted that working-class people are typically portrayed as mere caricatures with funny accents, serving to entertain the bourgeoisie who are depicted as having rich inner lives and complex internal conflicts. Set in the late 1980s, the novel captures the end of the punk era and the dawn of acid house, a period of Thatcherism when the “end of history” thesis was popular. Welsh commented, “Of course, that’s really been shown to be nonsense.” He also reflected on the decisions made during that time, which led to the adoption of a neoliberal model that, through the internet, has paradoxically created a more oppressive corporate state.
Alex Russell, Senior Commissioning Editor at Jonathan Cape, praised the new novel, stating, “His blazing new novel illuminates the lives of Renton, Spud, Sick Boy, and Begbie and the bonds between them. It is three decades since we first met the Trainspotting crew, and they are raring to return next summer.” “Men In Love” is set for publication on 3 July 2025, and an album sharing the novel’s name, created by Welsh and The Sci-Fi Soul Orchestra, will be released simultaneously. Welsh explained his vision for the album, saying, “I wanted to do a disco soul album, to extrapolate the emotional goods that you don’t always see in the book” because the characters “are quite hard-edged.” He added, “My books tend to be a bit dark and twisted, but I wanted to show the beauty of love and romance and desire.”
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