‘Am I 68? 69?’ Irvine Welsh on growing old, getting clean, bashing out his new novel – and flirting with guns

Three decades after he channelled his heroin addiction into the cult classic Trainspotting, the Scottish author has discovered the joys of yoga, breathwork and standing desks. But is he quite as ‘Zen’ as he claims? By rights, Irvine Welsh ought to be photographed somewhere gritty, looking grumpy, he says: “That’s the brand.” Beside a graffitied wall or at the docks, with a beanie pulled low, and definitely not smiling. But here he is, clear-skinned and wholesome in shorts and a T-shirt, drinking tea and – it’s hard to think of anything more off-brand – talking about the health benefits of yoga. Given his reputation for having lived in the worlds his books portray, he should or could look a lot worse. He guffaws at this, eyes a delighted blue, and repeats the phrase as if he’s found a new personal tagline: “Could look a lot worse!” Over the three decades since his cult debut, Trainspotting, was published in 1993, Welsh’s fiction has explored with humour the darker side of life. Drugs, c...

Robert Carradine obituary

Hollywood actor for more than five decades best known for 1980s cult film Revenge of the Nerds and the teen comedy series Lizzie McGuire

Of the four sons who followed their father, John Carradine, into acting, Keith had the most prestigious career, David netted the largest audience thanks to his early-1970s TV series Kung Fu, and the little-known Bruce amassed a meagre handful of minor credits. The youngest, Robert Carradine, acted continuously without ever becoming a star. He has taken his own life aged 71, after suffering from bipolar disorder, which was exacerbated by David’s death in 2009.

He had small roles in Martin Scorsese’s Mean Streets (1973), where he was the long-haired gunman who shoots dead the drunk played by David, and as a tracker in Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained (2012). He also joined David and Keith as the three Younger brothers in Walter Hill’s western The Long Riders (1980), which populated its cast with other sets of real-life siblings, such as James and Stacy Keach playing Frank and Jesse James. Carradine’s aptitude with a gun led to him competing under the alias Bob Younger in quick-draw competitions organised by the Single Action Shooting Society.

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