James Kelman

Rejected by his brother and largely ignored by his parents, Kieron Smith finds comfort - and endless stories - in the home of his much-loved grandparents. But when his family move to a new housing scheme on the outskirts of the city, a world away from the close community of the tenements, Kieron struggles to find a way to adapt to his new life. In his brilliantly evoked post-war Glasgow, Kelman depicts the city during a period of profound social change, with flourishing sectarianism, yet high hopes for the future. And in his central character, he creates a universal portrayal of the unique obsessions of childhood, whether fishing, climbing, books, brothers, dogs, ghosts, faces or souls...Warm, funny, with searing insight and astonishing empathy, in "Kieron Smith", James Kelman has created an unforgettable boy.

Waking up after a two-day drinking binge, ex-convict and shoplifter Sammy gets in a fight, lands in jail, goes blind, loses his girlfriend, and becomes embroiled in the Glasgow welfare system.

Sammy ha tenido una mala semana: su cartera ha desaparecido, junto con sus zapatos nuevos, ha sido arrestado y luego golpeado por la policía y arrojado a la calle y acaba de perder la vista. Recuerda una pelea con su novia, pero ella parece haber desaparecido. Las cosas no pintan demasiado bien para Sammy y sus problemas acaban de comenzar

A local tries to sell his sister to a trucker as he passes through town; a couple put their children to bed and hear a loud scratching at the wall; a man looks into a mirror and reflects on becoming more like his father.Sparky, touching and brilliantly daring, these stories uncover human feeling in the ordinary and the everyday, and are a reminder of Kelman''s exceptional talent.

Patrick Doyle is a twenty-nine-year-old teacher in an ordinary comprehensive school. Isolated, frustrated and increasingly bitter at the system he is employed to maintain, he begins his rebellion, fuelled by drink and his passionate, unrequited love for a fellow teacher.

Booker Prizewinner James Kelman sets this novel in the US and in his native Glasgow. A man named Jeremiah Brown, living in the American West and separated from the woman he loves and from his daughter as well, takes a trip back to Scotland to visit his aged mother, his first in seven years. The story is told in Kelman's trademark Scottish dialect, filtered this time through an Americanized sensibility.

Just one quick drink to help him sleep, a last few hours to think about what's ahead of him - and what's in the past. And gradually it becomes less a question of whether he'll make that flight tomorrow, more a question of whether he'll make it through the night at all. Because if there's one thing Jeremiah has learned for sure from his uncertain existence, it's that you have to be very careful in the land of the free.

In May 2005 Penguin will publish 70 unique titles to celebrate the company's 70th birthday. The titles in the Pocket Penguin series are emblematic of the renowned breadth of quality of the Penguin list and will hark back to Penguin founder Allen Lane's vision of good books for all.

WINNER OF 1994 THE BOOKER PRIZE.Sammys had a bad week.Most of its just a blank space in his mind, and the bits that he can remember, hed rather not. His wallets gone, along with his new shoes, hes been arrested then beaten up by the police and thrown out on the street - and hes just gone blind. He remembers a row with his girlfriend, but she seems to have disappeared; and he might have been trying to fix a bit of business up with an old mate, hes not too sure.Things arent looking too good for Sammy and his problems have hardly begun.A passionate, scintillating, brilliant song of a book Guardian

Patrick Doyle is a twenty-nine-year-old teacher in an ordinary comprehensive school. Isolated, frustrated and increasingly bitter at the system he is employed to maintain, he begins his rebellion, fuelled by drink and his passionate, unrequited love for a fellow teacher.

Helen travaille de nuit dans un casino comme croupiere, et vit dans un minuscule appartement de la banlieue londonienne, avec sa petite fille de six ans et son compagnon, Mo, anglo-pakistanais, qui trouve quelle est tordue. Plus que tordue, dit-elle.Les pensees filent en roue libre racisme ordinaire, sexisme a la petite semaine, resistance au quotidien , Helen somnole, se souvient, reve et sobsede, comme une Molly Bloom de banlieue, en moins frivole. Vingt-quatre heures dans la vie dune femme, entre la bouilloire qui fuit et le sommeil qui ne vient pas, lavalanche des problemes materiels et une vie exigue qui parait sans issue.Le monologue interieur dun personnage a la Ken Loach, dans la langue bouillonnante de James Kelman, toujours au plus pres de ce quon nappelle plus la classe ouvriere.