Meantime: The gripping debut crime novel from Frankie Boyle

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He is suspected and makes the ingenuous decision to turn detective, despite being out of his box most of the time. And really, if Boyle hates us all so much, why has he gifted us this gloriously funny treat of a novel?

Whether you are Yes or No, right or left wing, “woke” or “gammon”, he is more than willing to have a pop at you. The lists of pills at times reminded me of Bret Easton Ellis’ listing of brand names in American Psycho and these were used to highlight a mundanity of the coping strategy then just as I believe Frankie Boyle has done so now. A former employee of the BBC, he is merrily unhappy in a daze of benzos, diazepam, alcohol, hallucinogens, a bit of weed and whatever else he can get.That this unlikely cast of oddballs are as bluntly amusing as the author himself is also a huge asset. It is of course very funny, as I found Boyle's descriptions of places and in particular people, especially Donnie, to be hilarious. The city of Glasgow makes for an ideal landscape to set this bleak yet perversely refreshing and hugely enjoyable piece of work.

It jumps about and trails away, in ebbs and flows, which keep you engaged without having to pay too much attention. There is a large cast of characters, each one having their own idiosyncrasies and each one of them is memorable for some reason or other.A lot of political commentary surrounding that, both for and against, but it definitely made for an interesting backdrop given all we now know was to follow. Rachael O'Connor – a delusional stalker who formerly pursued Felix and is currently obsessed with a man named Greg. There are some great bits in towards the end but you've got to wade through quite a bit of unreliable drug-fuelled narration before that. For me, the central character seemed to be very much Frankie Boyle himself, he certainly used his jokes.