James Kelman was born in Govan in 1946 and brought up there and in Drumchapel. He left school at fifteen, and was living in London when he published his first short story collection, An Old Pub Near the Angel (1973). This was followed in 1983 with another collection, Not not while the giro, and shortly...

Twenty One Year Old On our first night at Jura Lodge you say: ‘here’s a bottle of the Twenty One Year Old, hey Lizzie, let’s taste…’ and we toast – once we’ve managed to track two nip glasses down – ‘oh there they are,Tom – of course, my deah, on the decanter tray, mayhap, in the...

One: Like a bird (for Kay)   Long ago, remember, when we lived on the beach at Takapuna, a Texan   teacher of maths bought a fisherman’s dizzy wife for one thousand pounds – a good   price, equal to one year’s professional salary. All three – the fisherman,   the Texan maths-man, the wife...