by Irvine Welsh
First published 1993
Renton, Spud, Sick Boy, and Begbie are longtime pals trapped in the gritty heroin scene of 1990s Edinburgh. Addiction, petty crime, and their own self-destructive impulses bind them together even as the stakes rise and violence erupts. As they hurtle toward an uncertain future, the group's bonds of friendship are tested to the limit by the insatiable need to escape the squalor of their lives.
Genres: fiction, drama, addiction, crime
Vibes: dark, emotional, fast-paced
Tropes: found-family, gritty
Setting: Edinburgh (Scotland)
368 pages · Paperback · Vintage Books
Content warnings: addiction, drug-use, violence