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Getty Images<\/p>\nIrvine Welsh has released a direct sequel to Trainspotting, more than 30 years after the cult novel\u2019s publication. <\/p>\n
Men in Love, released on Thursday, sees the return of beloved characters Renton, Sick Boy, Spud, and Begbie.<\/p>\n
Irvine\u2019s fifth Trainspotting spin-off displaces 2002\u2019s Porno as the original\u2019s most direct sequel, and follows the misfit Leith crew as they attempt to replace drug addiction with \u201clove and romance\u201d while they experience the heyday of rave culture in the late 80s and early 90s.<\/p>\n
The original novel quickly became a cult classic, and made a hugely successful transition from page to screen thanks to director Danny Boyle and up-and-coming actor Ewan McGregor, with a sequel released in 2017 reuniting most of the original cast.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Men in Love will open in the late 80s, \u201cat the end of punk and just before acid house\u201d.<\/p>\n
Getty Images<\/p>\n
The book\u2019s description reads: \u201cIt is the late 1980s, the closing years of Thatcher\u2019s Britain. For the Trainspotting crew, a new era is about to begin \u2013 a time for hope, for love, for raving.<\/p>\n
\u201cLeaving heroin behind and separated after a drug deal gone wrong, Renton, Sick Boy, Spud and Begbie each want to feel alive. They fill their days with sex and romance and trying to get ahead; they follow the call of the dance floor, with its promise of joy and redemption.<\/p>\n
\u201cSick Boy starts an intense relationship with Amanda, his \u2018princess\u2019 \u2013 rich, connected, everything that he is not. When the pair set a date for their wedding, Sick Boy sees a chance for his generation to take control at last. But as the 1990s dawn, will finding love be the answer to the group\u2019s dreams or just another doomed quest?<\/p>\n
\u201cIrvine Welsh\u2019s sequel to his iconic bestseller Trainspotting tells a story of riotous adventures, wild new passions, and young men determined to get the most out of life.\u201d<\/p>\n
The release comes ahead of a documentary of Welsh\u2019s life, which will close the Edinburgh International Film Festival on August 20.<\/p>\n
Reality Is Not Enough will follow the best-selling author at a \u201ccrossroads\u201d in life where he is \u201cacutely aware of his mortality and accepting that his hedonistic days are drawing to a close\u201d.<\/p>\n
It is also said to explore the \u201cinner and outer life\u201d of the writer, who was propelled to fame with his debut novel focusing on heroin addicts in Leith in 1993.<\/p>\n
From director Paul Sng, the documentary, which was previously titled I Am Irvine Welsh, has been described as a \u201ccaptivating piece of autobiographical filmmaking\u201d.<\/p>\n
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