James Kelman — James Kelman

James Kelman's oblique, wry and open-ended short stories reveal him to be a master of the form and this selection offers some of his best work from three separate collections. The Bevel and The Hitch-hiker tell of Chas, Sammy and "the boy" working in the Highlands in the summer, while Picture and Lassies are Trained That Way have their own take on the relationship between men and women. Old Francis evokes a moment of existential terror in an urban park while In with the Doctor takes a humorously Kafkaesque look at the medical profession and the class expectations that surround it.