Episode 135 – Irvine Welsh / Dmitry Samarov

Virtual Memories Show #135:
Irvine Welsh / Dmitry Samarov

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“What would young, pre-Trainspotting Irvine Welsh think of you now?”

“He’d think I was a total wanker.”

Irvine Welsh has created unforgettable characters in his novels, beginning with the cast of Trainspotting in 1993. We caught up in his Chicago home and talked about writing, boxing, the art world, the White Sox, the creative flourish that’s seen him publish three novels in four years, the perils of success and exhausting your autobiography, the periods of life he’s interested in writing about, his first meeting with Iggy Pop, his childhood and the school-days’ balance of being a reader and being a jock, the narcissism of online living, Trainspotting over the years, Edinburgh’s failed gentrification, the ways that America’s friendlier than Scotland, and more! Give it a listen!

“I think it’s good for me as a writer not to be hanging out with writers all the time.”

We also talk about his critique of global capitalism, the problems with permanent austerity, American and UK tabloid culture, standing up David Bowie (twice), returning to Ulysses every few years, the ways William S. Burroughs helps rewire his brain, and the great anonymous allure of the first-time novelist.

“Instagram is like Methodone to Twitter’s heroin”

Then Dmitry Samarov rejoins the show to talk about his memoir-in-progress, his paintings, his latest readings, and his decision to jump off the social network treadmill. This episode also includes my justification for being a New York Yankees fan, as well as my problematic relationship with superhero comics. Give it a listen!

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We mention quite a few books in this episode. Here’s they are:

• Trainspotting – Irvine Welsh
• Glue – Irvine Welsh
• Marabou Stork Nightmares – Irvine Welsh
• Filth – Irvine Welsh
• The Sex Lives of Siamese Twins – Irvine Welsh
• The Complete Richard Allen, Vol. 1: Skinhead, Suedehead, Skinhead Escapes – Richard Allen
• A Clockwork Orange – Anthony Burgess
• How Late It Was, How Late – James Kelman
• The Busconductor Hines – James Kelman
• Jernigan – David Gates
• Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America – Jill Leovy
• The Letters of Ivor Punch – Colin Mcintyre
• Ulysses – James Joyce
• Cities of the Red Night – William S. Burroughs
• Where To?: A Hack Memoir – Dmitry Samarov
• Hack: Stories from a Chicago Cab – Dmitry Samarov
• Experience: A Memoir – Martin Amis
• A Childhood: The Biography of a Place – Harry Crews
• Ask the Dust – John Fante
• Fante: A Family’s Legacy of Writing, Drinking and Surviving – Don Fante
• The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay – Michael Chabon
• Forest of Fortune – Jim Ruland
• Streets in Their Own Ink: Poems – Stuart Dybek
• The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis – Lydia Davis
• Can’t and Won’t: Stories – Lydia Davis

Enjoy the conversation! Then check out the archives for more great episodes! You might like:

• Dmitry Samarov 1
• Stona Fitch / Rory Flynn
• Walter Kirn
• Dan Perkins / Tom Tomorrow
• Maxim Jakubowski

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About our Guests

Irvine Welsh is the author of Trainspotting, Ecstasy, Filth (adapted for film in 2013), Glue, and Crime, among other works. His latest novel is A Decent Ride. Welsh is also producing movies and writing screenplays. A native of Edinburgh, he lives in Chicago and Miami. You can find a more extensive bio at his website.

Dmitry Samarov was born in Moscow, USSR, in 1970. He emigrated to the United States with his family in 1978. He got in trouble in first grade for doodling on his Lenin Red Star pin and hasn’t stopped doodling since. He graduated with a BFA in painting at printmaking from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1993. Upon graduation he promptly began driving a cab — first in Boston, then after a time, in Chicago. He is the author of two books, Hack: Stories from a Chicago Cab, and Where To?: A Hack Memoir. Go check out his paintings, and maybe buy some.

Credits: This episode’s music is Nothing’s Gonna Bring Me Down by David Baerwald. The conversations were recorded in the homes of Irvine Welsh and Dmitry Samarov on a pair of Blue enCORE 200 microphones feeding into a Zoom H5 digital recorder. I recorded the intro and outro on the same equipment in a hotel room in Washington, DC. Processing was done in Audacity and Logic Pro.