IRVINE Welsh has written a new novel based on terrifying Trainspotting hard-man Francis Begbie.
Welsh will release The Blade Artist on April 7. The book follows the life of Begbie who was played by Robert Carlyle in the 1996 cult movie.
The hot-headed character made a brief return in a 2013 Big Issue Christmas short story called ‘He ain’t Lager’ following the loose cannon on his journey to become a reformed man.
But now Welsh has decided to bring back Begbie who is now living as an artist and goes under the name Jim Francis.
The synopsis on the website of publisher Random House reads: “Jim Francis has finally found the perfect life – and is now unrecognisable, even to himself.
“A successful painter and sculptor, he lives quietly with his wife, Melanie, and their two young daughters, in an affluent beach town in California.
“Some say he’s a fake and a con man, while others see him as a genuine visionary.
“But Francis has a very dark past, with another identity and a very different set of values.”
Begbie returns to his roots in Edinburgh where he is reunited with all his past friends.
It goes on: “When he crosses the Atlantic to his native Scotland, for the funeral of a murdered son he barely knew, his old Edinburgh community expects him to take bloody revenge.
“But as he confronts his previous life, all those friends and enemies – and, most alarmingly, his former self – Francis seems to have other ideas.
“When Melanie discovers something gruesome in California, which indicates that her husband’s violent past might also be his psychotic present, things start to go very bad, very quickly.”
Irvine Welsh later re-tweeted the announcement that was shared by The Big Issue before posting the comment: “F**8 me my Twitter has just exploded – See you later!”
But before he signed off the writer couldn’t help but re-tweet by an account posing as Francis Begbie which read: “About time. That baldy c*** hus wasted enough f***n time with the boring c**** ay Leith. Ah’m the f****n’ star.”
Trainspotting fans have been sharing their excitement over the news on Twitter after the news was made official.
Trickynffc wrote: “Words cannot describe how excited I am by this.
Pitchsymphony said: “Ye better no be talkin sh*** or i’ll come oot the pages masel and kick it oot ye.”
While user, TheMFBatman, wrote: “Because if anyone deserves his own spin-off, it’s a psychotic Scottish Freddie Mercury lookalike.”
The news comes shortly after it was revealed that Danny Boyle was working on a Trainspotting sequel due for release next year.
Irvine Welsh has written previous novels including Trainspotting follow up, Porno, A Decent Ride and Filth.
