James Kelman

James Kelman was born in Glasgow, June 1946, and left school in 1961, began work in the printing trade. My family emigrated to USA, returned a year later. I moved around, working in various jobs in various places. I was living in England when I started writing: ramblings, musings, sundry phantasmagoria, stories; whatever, I committed to it and kept at it. In 1969 I met and married Marie Connors from South Wales. We settled in Glasgow. Since then I have existed as writer, father and grandfather, supported by the same lady. We still live in Glasgow, not far from our kids and grandkids; and I still plug away at the ramblings, musings, politicking and so on. Sláinte. Follow him on Twitter HERE

• Book events
• Reviews
• More from James

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Praise

“James Kelman changed my life.”
—Douglas Stuart, author of Shuggie Bain

“Probably the most influential novelist of the post-war period.”
—The Times

“Kelman has the knack, maybe more than anyone since Joyce, of fixing in his writing the lyricism of ordinary people’s speech … Pure aesthete, undaunted democrat—somehow Kelman manages to reconcile his two halves.”
—Esquire (London)

“The greatest British novelist of our time.”
—Sunday Herald

“A true original … A real artist … it’s now very difficult to see which of his peers can seriously be ranked alongside [Kelman] without ironic eyebrows being raised.”
—Irvine Welsh, Guardian

“A writer of world stature, a 21st century Modern.”
—The Scotsman

Praise

“Brilliant and incendiary, All We Have is the Story, proves once again that James Kelman is the foremost anti-authoritarian intellectual of our age. This fascinating, forthright collection of interviews offers a portrait of the artist spanning decades, revealing the evolution of Kelman’s thinking over time and his steadfast fight against the forces of erasure and hegemony in literature and in life.”
—Cara Hoffman, author of RUIN and So Much Pretty

“James Kelman changed my life.”
—Douglas Stuart, author of Shuggie Bain

“Probably the most influential novelist of the post-war period.”
—The Times

“Kelman has the knack, maybe more than anyone since Joyce, of fixing in his writing the lyricism of ordinary people’s speech … Pure aesthete, undaunted democrat—somehow Kelman manages to reconcile his two halves.”
—Esquire (London)

Praise

“The real reason Kelman, despite his stature and reputation, remains something of a literary outsider is not, I suspect, so much that great, radical Modernist writers aren’t supposed to come from working-class Glasgow, as that great, radical Modernist writers are supposed to be dead. Dead, and wrapped up in a Penguin Classic: that’s when it’s safe to regret that their work was underappreciated or misunderstood (or how little they were paid) in their lifetimes. You can write what you like about Beckett or Kafka and know they’re not going to come round and tell you you’re talking nonsense, or confound your expectations with a new work. Kelman is still alive, still writing great books, climbing.”
—James Meek, London Review of Books

“A true original . . . A real artist. . . . It’s now very difficult to see which of his peers can seriously be ranked alongside [Kelman] without ironic eyebrows being raised.”
—Irvine Welsh, Guardian

“Probably the most influential novelist of the post-war period.”
—The Times

“Kelman has the knack, maybe more than anyone since Joyce, of fixing in his writing the lyricism of ordinary people’s speech . . . Pure aesthete, undaunted democrat—somehow Kelman manages to reconcile his two halves.”
—Esquire (London)

“Kelman has always been a true and honest writer; which is why he is one of the fairly few who really matter.”
—Scotsman

Praise

“The real reason Kelman, despite his stature and reputation, remains something of a literary outsider is not, I suspect, so much that great, radical Modernist writers aren’t supposed to come from working-class Glasgow, as that great, radical Modernist writers are supposed to be dead. Dead, and wrapped up in a Penguin Classic: that’s when it’s safe to regret that their work was underappreciated or misunderstood (or how little they were paid) in their lifetimes. You can write what you like about Beckett or Kafka and know they’re not going to come round and tell you you’re talking nonsense, or confound your expectations with a new work. Kelman is still alive, still writing great books, climbing.”
—James Meek, London Review of Books

“A true original . . . A real artist. . . . It’s now very difficult to see which of his peers can seriously be ranked alongside [Kelman] without ironic eyebrows being raised.”
—Irvine Welsh, Guardian

“Probably the most influential novelist of the post-war period.”
—The Times

“Kelman has the knack, maybe more than anyone since Joyce, of fixing in his writing the lyricism of ordinary people’s speech . . . Pure aesthete, undaunted democrat—somehow Kelman manages to reconcile his two halves.”
—Esquire (London)

“Kelman has always been a true and honest writer; which is why he is one of the fairly few who really matter.”
—Scotsman

Praise

“God’s Teeth and Other Phenomena is electric. Forget all the rubbish you’ve been told about how to write, the requirements of the marketplace and the much vaunted ‘readability’ that is supposed to be sacrosanct. This is a book about how art gets made, its murky, obsessive, unedifying demands and the endless, sometimes hilarious, humiliations literary life inflicts on even its most successful names.”
—Eimear McBride author of A Girl Is a Half-Formed Thing and The Lesser Bohemians

“James Kelman is an extraordinary writer—smart and incisive, witty and warm, with prose so alive it practically sparks off the page. God’s Teeth and Other Phenomena is one of the wisest, funniest and most brutally honest books I’ve read in ages. I loved it.”
—Molly Antopol, author of The Unamericans

“James Kelman changed my life.”
—Douglas Stuart, author of Shuggie Bain

“Probably the most influential novelist of the post-war period.”
—The Times

“Kelman has the knack, maybe more than anyone since Joyce, of fixing in his writing the lyricism of ordinary people’s speech … Pure aesthete, undaunted democrat—somehow Kelman manages to reconcile his two halves.”
—Esquire (London)

“The greatest British novelist of our time.”
—Sunday Herald

“A true original … A real artist … it’s now very difficult to see which of his peers can seriously be ranked alongside [Kelman] without ironic eyebrows being raised.”
—Irvine Welsh, Guardian

“A writer of world stature, a 21st century Modern.”
—The Scotsman

“The real reason Kelman, despite his stature and reputation, remains something of a literary outsider is not, I suspect, so much that great, radical Modernist writers aren’t supposed to come from working-class Glasgow, as that great, radical Modernist writers are supposed to be dead. Dead, and wrapped up in a Penguin Classic: that’s when it’s safe to regret that their work was underappreciated or misunderstood (or how little they were paid) in their lifetimes. You can write what you like about Beckett or Kafka and know they’re not going to come round and tell you you’re talking nonsense, or confound your expectations with a new work. Kelman is still alive, still writing great books, climbing.”
—James Meek, London Review of Books

“The greatest living British novelist.”
—Amit Chaudhuri, author of A New World, Frieze Magazine

“What an enviably, devilishly wonderful writer is James Kelman.”
—John Hawkes, author of The Blood Oranges

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Book Events

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Reviews

• THE FIGHT TO NOT CONFORM: Kavan Stafford on James Kelman’s ‘God’s Teeth and Other Phenomena’
• Just do it
• God’s Teeth— A Review
• God’s Teeth and Other Phenomenon: A Review
• US OR THEM: Kelman’s ‘The State is Your Enemy’ Reviewed by Federica Giardino
• God’s Teeth— James Kelman’s new novel reviewed by on The Drouth
• KELMAN & CHOMSKY: A Review on The Drouth
• Noam Chomsky and James Kelman – ‘Between Thought and Expression Lies a Lifetime – Why Ideas Matter’

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Interviews

• A CONVERSATION WITH JAMES KELMAN

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Mentions

• CITY LIGHTS LIVE! James Kelman in conversation with Alan Black
• The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner with James Kelman
• Keep Moving and No Questions by James Kelman in Snack Magazine
• Bill Callahan on Apology

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Blog

• Challenging Capitalist Modernity IV: We Want Our World Back! Resist, Reclaim, and Rebuild
• CITY LIGHTS LIVE! James Kelman in conversation with Alan Black
• The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner with James Kelman
• Keep Moving and No Questions by James Kelman in Snack Magazine
• Ten Best Scottish Books of 2022
• Kelman On The Radio
• An evening with James Kelman
• Self-Determination and Power
• ‘Butcher’s Dozen’ 

• James Kelman’s Blog