Irvine Welsh releases direct sequel to Trainspotting titled Men in Love

Irvine Welsh has released a direct sequel to Trainspotting, more than 30 years after the cult novel’s publication.

Men in Love, released on Thursday, sees the return of beloved characters Renton, Sick Boy, Spud, and Begbie.

Irvine’s fifth Trainspotting spin-off displaces 2002’s Porno as the original’s most direct sequel, and follows the misfit Leith crew as they attempt to replace drug addiction with “love and romance” while they experience the heyday of rave culture in the late 80s and early 90s.

The original novel quickly became a cult classic, and made a hugely successful transition from page to screen thanks to director Danny Boyle and up-and-coming actor Ewan McGregor, with a sequel released in 2017 reuniting most of the original cast.

Men in Love will open in the late 80s, “at the end of punk and just before acid house”.

The book’s description reads: “It is the late 1980s, the closing years of Thatcher’s Britain. For the Trainspotting crew, a new era is about to begin – a time for hope, for love, for raving.

“Leaving heroin behind and separated after a drug deal gone wrong, Renton, Sick Boy, Spud and Begbie each want to feel alive. They fill their days with sex and romance and trying to get ahead; they follow the call of the dance floor, with its promise of joy and redemption.

“Sick Boy starts an intense relationship with Amanda, his ‘princess’ – rich, connected, everything that he is not. When the pair set a date for their wedding, Sick Boy sees a chance for his generation to take control at last. But as the 1990s dawn, will finding love be the answer to the group’s dreams or just another doomed quest?

“Irvine Welsh’s sequel to his iconic bestseller Trainspotting tells a story of riotous adventures, wild new passions, and young men determined to get the most out of life.”

The release comes ahead of a documentary of Welsh’s life, which will close the Edinburgh International Film Festival on August 20.

Reality Is Not Enough will follow the best-selling author at a “crossroads” in life where he is “acutely aware of his mortality and accepting that his hedonistic days are drawing to a close”.

It is also said to explore the “inner and outer life” of the writer, who was propelled to fame with his debut novel focusing on heroin addicts in Leith in 1993.

From director Paul Sng, the documentary, which was previously titled I Am Irvine Welsh, has been described as a “captivating piece of autobiographical filmmaking”.