I'm quite comfortable now with being misunderstood. I don't really feel the need either to pander to it or to refute it. Just go on, and do what I've got to do.

[Ecstasy] had its flaws, but again it was shot on a low budget, and they did well. It's not in the same league as Filth.

When I'm not writing, I read loads of fiction, but I've been writing quite constantly lately so I've been reading a lot of nonfiction - philosophy, religion, science, history, social or cultural studies.

There's no one way of telling a story or looking at reality, so I think any device is up for grabs as long as it fits in with the tone.

Most people with good jobs, middle-class occupations, what have you, are only one pitfall away from social embarrassment and destitution. It's so precarious. Even salaried people in the West now feel this sense of being trapped, not having the freedom to strike out.

The subsequent success levels, all the other stuff [after Trainspotting], it comes at a much higher level.

I can see why the Russians love Robert Burns, I think that Russians and Koreans have a very similar outlook to Scots.