by Irvine Welsh
First published 2012
In the grim underbelly of 1980s Edinburgh, a tight-knit crew spirals into the seductive but deadly clutches of heroin. Renton, Sick Boy, Spud, and others must confront the harsh realities of addiction, betrayal, and the corrosion of their dreams. Irvine Welsh's visceral, darkly comic prose lays bare their desperate search for escape - and the unbreakable bonds that keep them tethered to the needle.
Genres: fiction, drama, literary-fiction, addiction, crime, contemporary
Vibes: dark, emotional, thought-provoking
Tropes: friends-to-lovers, gritty
Setting: Edinburgh, Scotland
Period: 1980s
532 pages · Hardcover · W. W. Norton & Company
Content warnings: addiction, drug-use, substance-abuse