The characters in this extraordinary collection are often - on the surface - depraved, vicious, cowardly and manipulative, but their essential humanity is never undermined. Stereotypes are at once celebrated and destroyed, as the protagonists find themselves on unfamiliar ground: two professors of philosophy turn pugilists; Leith removal men become objects of desire for Hollywood goddesses; God turns Boab Coyle into a house-fly; and in the novella, 'A Smart Cunt', the drug-addled young hero spins off on a collision course with his past. Using a range of approaches, from bitter realism to demented fantasy, Irvine Welsh displays a corrosive wit and a telling accuracy of observation, confronting our perception of our own identities and that of those around us. THE ACID HOUSE is a bizzare, disturbing and hilarious collection from one of the most uncompromising and original writers around.