Irvine Welsh's tale of addiction in Leith voted best work from the last 50 years in poll run by Scottish Book Trust
Irvine Welsh's grimy novel of addiction Trainspotting has emerged as the public's favourite Scottish novel of the past 50 years in a poll which was run by Scottish Book Trust.
The book featuring heroin addict Mark Renton and a cast of transgressive characters including con artist Sick Boy and sociopath Begbie, won the most votes from a total of 8,800 cast by Scottish readers from around the world.
Alasdair Gray's Lanark, combining depictions of real and dystopian fantasy Glasgow was voted as second favourite. Ian Rankin's eighth novel featuring his much-loved Inspector Rebus, Black and Blue, was third favourite.
Readers voted for their favourites from a suggested shortlist of 50 novels by Scottish writers which was put together by literary critic Stuart Kelly and Scottish Book Trust.
The late and much-missed Iain Banks, who died this June, makes two appearances in the top 10: once for Excession, an interstellar tale written as Iain M Banks, the name he used for his science fiction work; and once for The Bridge, a very unconventional love story published without the middle initial.
Alan Warner's debut novel Morvan Callar, about a young woman who wakes on Christmas morning to discover that her boyfriend has committed suicide, leaving behind the manuscript of his unpublished novel, was at number seven. And in 10th place, Docherty by William McIlvanney. McIlvanney is best know as the "godfather of tartan noir" with his detective Laidlaw, but this portrait of working-class life in the west of Scotland is much revered.
This was the second success for McIlvanney this week, after he was named as winner of the Spirit of Scotland award for writing. The shortlist was made up of William Dalrymple, David Greig, Robert Galbraith, and McIlvanney, with the winner determined by a public vote.
Galbraith – real name JK Rowling – was omitted from the Scottish Book Trust list of 50 best Scottish novels because her books for adults were deemed not good enough to make the cut.
The 10 favourite Scottish novels
1 Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh
2 Lanark by Alasdair Gray
3 Black and Blue by Ian Rankin
4 The Bridge by Iain Banks
5 One Fine Day in the Middle of the Night by Christopher Brookmyre
6 Excession by Iain M Banks
7 Morvern Callar by Alan Warner
8 44 Scotland Street by Alexander McCall Smith
9 The Trick is to Keep Breathing by Janice Galloway
10 Docherty by William McIlvanney
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