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A Decent Ride

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A Decent Ride

By: Irvine Welsh
Narrated by: Tam Dean Burn Burn
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About this listen

Shortlisted for the 2015 Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse prize for comic fiction

A rampaging force of nature is wreaking havoc on the streets of Edinburgh, but has top shagger, drug-dealer, gonzo-porn-star and taxi-driver, ‘Juice’ Terry Lawson, finally met his match in Hurricane ‘Bawbag’?

Can Terry discover the fate of the missing beauty, Jinty Magdalen, and keep her idiot-savant lover, the man-child Wee Jonty, out of prison?

Will he find out the real motives of unscrupulous American businessman and reality-TV star, Ronald Checker?

And, crucially, will Terry be able to negotiate life after a terrible event robs him of his sexual virility, and can a new fascination for the game of golf help him to live without… A DECENT RIDE?

A Decent Ride sees Irvine Welsh back on home turf, leaving us in the capable hands of one of his most compelling and popular characters, ‘Juice’ Terry Lawson, and introducing another bound for cult status, Wee Jonty MacKay: a man with the genitals and brain of a donkey.

In his funniest, filthiest book yet, Irvine Welsh celebrates an un-reconstructed misogynist hustler – a central character who is shameless but also, oddly, decent –and finds new ways of making wild comedy out of fantastically dark material, taking on some of the last taboos. So fasten your seatbelts, because this is one ride that could certainly get a little bumpy…

 Dark Humour Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Literature & Fiction Comedy

Critic Reviews

Raucous, filthy and funny. (James Naughtie)
Without question, our most distinguished living exponent of the so- called “excremental vision of life” — a line that goes back (to pick a few names) via James Joyce, Swift, and Ben Jonson, to Chaucer, writers who have explored what meanings of human existence are to be found in the toilet bowl. (John Sutherland)
Irvine Welsh, I think it’s safe to say, is not a writer who’s mellowing with age... Welsh’s [language is an] astonishingly supple invention: one that can combine scabrousness and lyricism, comedy and ruefulness in the same paragraph... [if] you fancy an authentic and often thrilling blast of full-strength Irvine Welsh, then you’re in for a treat. (James Walton)
It's a stern reader who wouldn't fall for his filthy charm.
Whether your interest is piqued by the ridiculously expensive bottles of whiskey and the extraordinary lengths an American will go to own them or your heart strings are pulled by Wee Jonty’s anguished love story, there’s a multitude of ideas and human emotions that Welsh brings out among the laughter. (Claire Inman)
When the humour works, we can enjoy the novel for what Welsh clearly intended it to be — a luridly exuberant caper, a series of glossy and gritty snapshots. It won’t make converts out of detractors, but then one senses that a novelist like him wouldn’t want it any other way. (Malcolm Forbes)
Welsh’s ingenuity, flair, sharp observation, and satirical talent make this not just a decent ride for the reader but an exhilarating one. (Leyla Sanai)
It’s filthy and hilarious in equal measure.
An unashamedly indecent read. Welsh fans will love it. (Olaf Tyaransen)
Fantastically funny and well drawn. (Keeley Bolger)
All stars
Most relevant
Very Barry Yes Sir yes sir long live””😂🦉 jus Terry “ What a ride loved it truly.

Barry

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Gloriously twisted and hilarious at the same time. Some really grotesque twists in the plot, especially with Wee Jonty that were a bit disturbington but then made hilarious by the spot on narration and appreciation of Welsh's continued ability to shock in his writing. Took me back to the patter of various men growing up in Glasgow- loved it!

Another great listen!

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If you enjoy Irvine Welsh's specific brand of offensive humor, then this is the book for you. So much offensive humor!

If not, then this book will be a bit of a long slog...

In this episode of the Trainspotting Extended Universe, we have the focus on Terry Lawson. Originally introduced in Glue (which was a less successful take on the original Trainspotting formula), he was also a more important cast member of the T2 sequel also known as Porno. The somewhat well-meaning sex addict Juice Terry can get exhausting as the main point of view, but don't get me wrong as Irvine Welsh is a phenomenally good writer. The author's craft with words is still extremely impressive decades after his original hit, and being able to get so deeply into the minds of degenerates in Scotland is usually entertaining as hell. It's just that the plot goes on and on and this should've been a slimmer book.

So, Terry is a cab driver who only does scud movies on the side--Sick Boy is a minor character here by the way--while running scams and questioning his family line. Then the main inner conflict comes when he has to give up sex because of a heart condition, the poor bastard. There are side stories about a hurricane at the time, a missing girl and her well-endowed simple boyfriend, and drama about a brothel. Have I left out the necrophilia and incest?

One of the more interesting aspects, especially since this was presciently published in 2015, is a certain character: American right-wing businessman a**hole with a reality show who loves golf. Yes, based on who you think. Welsh's take sure is engaging, but fair warning if you are sick of that subject by now.

Personally, I'm all in on Welsh's world-building and the novel A Decent Ride is required reading for me. That said, I wouldn't recommend this to most people unless you've read at least three of his novels prior and are very into it. Again, this book is simply too long and gets so damn repetitive. He's a great writer with a well-earned reputation, but perhaps the prestige led to a lack of editing as can happen with such novelists' latter careers. Just not Irvine Welsh's best.

If you like Irvine Welsh offensive humor

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…or, in this case, audiobook.

Funny, offensive and well performed.

Deffo recommend for a good laugh

It’s a decent ride…

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