Irvine Welsh's new novel Glue has been flagged up by his publishers as a return to form.

In other words, the king of Edinburgh scag-heads has gone back to the literary roots that made him so famous - the fertile ground of Trainspotting.

But the novelist doesn't see his new book either as a return to form or a return to Trainspotting.

In answer to a question from the audience, he revealed his own favourite of his books is the gruesome and sickeningly violent Marabou Stork Nightmares rather than his celebrated debut.

He also emphasised again and again that Glue is unlike any of his other books because of its ambitious time frame, making it a kind of Our Friends In The North on acid, weed and smack.

These kind of literary chats always tread a thin line between giving a fascinating insight into an author's creative processes and giving the author and his interviewer the chance to suck up to each other as much as possible.

Despite the easy line of questioning, Irvine Welsh came across as a man with integrity and intelligence. He was also the only one there qualified to give an authentic-sounding reading from his book.

Pavilion Theatre, New Road, Brighton, Sunday