Scottish novelist and short-story writer. His works are angry, compassionate, and ironic, and make effective use of the trenchant speech patterns of his native Glasgow. These include the novels
The Busconductor Hines (1984),
A Disaffection (1989), and
How Late It Was, How Late (1994; Booker Prize);
The Good times (1998) comprises 21 narratives in which men try to come to terms with their redundancy in life.
Other works include the short-story collections
Greyhound for Breakfast (1987) and
The Burn (1991); and the play
The Busker (1985).
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