Skagboys

Both a prequel to the world-renowned TRAINSPOTTING and an alternative version of it, SKAGBOYS is Irvine Welsh's greatest work. Mark Renton seems to have it all: he's the first in his family to go to university, he's young, has a pretty girlfriend and a great social life. But Thatcher's government is destroying working-class communities across Britain, and the post-war certainties of full employment, educational opportunity and a welfare state are gone. SKAGBOYS charts the journey of Renton, Spud, Tommy, Begbie and Sick Boy from likely lads to young men addicted to the heroin which has flooded their disintegrating community.